Porsche to take control of VAG

[pb3vr6 at yahoo.com (Tonee Northam)]

Does that mean the new scirocco won't look like a smushed nissan murano?

Nate Mellom <doubt@inwave.com> wrote:  Good/bad for VAG?
We'll see!


Porsche is ready to take control of Volkswagen following a ruling in the 
European Union's top court yesterday that will scrap a German law 
protecting VW from takeovers.

The advocate general at the European Court of Justice ruled that the 
so-called "Volkswagen Law" prevented the free flow of capital.

The law was established in the 1960s to prevent foreign takeover of VW, 
and to safeguard German jobs.

It allowed the German state of Lower Saxony, in which VW is based, and 
which owns a 20.8 per cent stake in the company, to safeguard VW and 
have a say in its business.

Porsche, under the guidance of chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking and 
major shareholder Ferdinand Piech, has steadily been building its share 
of VW.

Currently it owns 27.4 per cent, and it has plans to buy 29.9 per cent. 
However, as the law stood, even though Porsche owned almost a third of 
VW, it could not exercise any more than 20 per cent of the voting rights.

Wiedeking has been vocal in his criticism of VW's protected status. Now 
it seems certain that Porsche will be able to take both the chairmanship 
of VW's board and also a controlling interest on its supervisory board.

Though Porsche is a far smaller car maker than VW in terms of volume, it 
has profits only slightly lower than VW's.

The European Court of Justice's ruling is currently only an initial 
finding, but it is a near-certainty to become law within the next six 
months.

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