REPORT: VW leans on Porsche, Porsche responds, "We will not accept extortion."
 

Filed under: Porsche, Volkswagen, Earnings/Financials
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Porsche maintains it still has its mojo, but Volkswagen is treating the company like Porsche's got lunch money and VW is hungry. VW -- which Porsche effectively owns -- loaned Porsche €700 million ($983.8 million) earlier this year, with Porsche due to pay it back in September. As collateral for the loan Porsche used its wholesale distribution arm Porsche Holding GmbH.

The way things are going for Porsche, it might not be able to make that September repayment. So VW and the state of Lower Saxony made an offer: Porsche has until the end of June to accept an offer by VW to pay €3 to €4 billion ($4.2 billion to $5.6 billion) for a 49% Porsche's car business. If Porsche doesn't accept, then VW will "insist" Porsche repay the full amount of the loan in September. If Porsche can't come up with the coin VW could walk away with Porsche Holding GmbH.

Porsche, plucky as ever, didn't want to hear about any of that, saying "Ultimatums do not belong in the 21st century.... We hope very much in the interest of the common goals that the authors of the ultimatum regain their calm..." The crew at VW quickly issued a response, with one spokesperson simply saying, "There is no ultimatum."

Porsche has plenty of time to sort things out, and its investment talks with Qatar, which would greatly help its debt situation, are said to "have entered the final stretch." Thanks for the tip, C. Halen

[Source: Reuters, Automotive News - Sub. Req.]REPORT: VW leans on Porsche, Porsche responds, "We will not accept extortion." originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.


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