The drama around the Porsche purchase of Volkswagen has come to a dramatic, if surprising, end. Several months ago, Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking thought his company could take control of Volkswagen, yet the takeover attempt failed, costing Wiedeking his job while Porsche went into debt. Instead, Automotive News reports that VW has now agreed to buy a 42-percent stake in Porsche worth close to $4.7 billion.
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn will run the new, combined entity, which should be created by the end of 2011. That’ll make VW an automotive powerhouse with ten brands under its control, from Europe-only marques like Škoda and Seat to big names like Bentley and Lamborghini—as well as the newly-added Porsche. Porsche will remain an independent company and keep its headquarters in Zuffenhausen, Germany.
The largest stakeholders in the new, combined Porsche-VW will be the Porsche and Piëch (as in VW Chairman Ferdinand Piëch) families. The German state of Lower Saxony will continue its 20-percent say in the company, as per the so-called Volkswagen Law.
