It's a match made in heaven: Porsche needs money, Qatar has tons of it. Any questions?
Following deals that have seen Kuwaiti firms take control of Aston Martin and Abu Dhabi investing in Daimler and Ferrari, Porsche is reportedly closing in on a deal that would see the Qatar state government help Porsche pull itself out of debt and regroup for its planned take-over of the Volkswagen auto empire. The once cash-flushed sportscar-maker is in the process of refinancing its debt to the tune of 12.5 billion euros, but with 10.75 billion already raised, a request pending for another 1.75 billion from the German federal government and an anticipated additional billion in revenues anticipated this year, Porsche is still eager to bring in more capital.
Although previous reports suggested the deal would involve the Qatar state government buying stake in Porsche, that was before Stuttgart and Wolfsburg began discussions of convoluted mergers. Two options are subsequently reported to now be on the table: Qatar could either buy stake in Porsche Automobil Holding SE (which owns both Porsche's automaking unit and its 51% stake in VW), or alternatively buy up Porsche's outstanding option on 24% stake in Volkswagen, thereby giving Stuttgart a partner and Wolfsburg a new power-player.
[Source: Automotive News Europe]
