Volkswagen Group in February announced it was considering spinning off Porsche to help raise funds for investment in the key areas of electric vehicles, self-driving technology, and software development.
A lot has changed since then. There’s the ongoing war in Ukraine, worldwide political strife, raging inflation, rising interest rates, an energy crisis, and stock markets declining across all sectors.
Despite these challenges, VW Group will go ahead with a planned initial public offering of Porsche in the fourth quarter of the year, Arno Antlitz. VW Group’s chief financial officer, said late last month during an investor presentation in Germany.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported last week VW Group is lining up investment banks to serve as underwriters of the IPO and is considering launching the IPO as soon as September, with an aim to list in October.
Bloomberg also reported in March that the IPO could value Porsche at 90 billion euros (approximately $90.6 billion).
Should the IPO prove successful, VW Group may follow it with an IPO of recently established battery company PowerCo. Speaking at the investor presentation, Antlitz said VW Group’s battery unit has been set up in a way to make a listing next year or 2024 possible. PowerCo is responsible for VW Group’s global battery activities and has announced plans for six battery plants in Europe and is considering establishing plants in North America as well.