The Porsche and Piech families will remain a dominant presence in the proposed merger between Volkswagen and Porsche, according to Der Spiegel magazine which at the weekend said the familes would hold about a stake of between 45 and 55%.
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The federal state of Lower Saxony, which currently holds just over 20% of Volkswagen – a blocking stake under the special, so-called VW Law – will own about 21-25% of the new company, Der Spiegel added.
Another German magazine, Focus, said Lower Saxony and another, unnamed, investor could own about half of the new business while the Porsche and Piech families between them own the rest. Focus speculated that one possible investor could be the Emir of Qatar.
The magazine said Audi’s CEO was emerging as a compromise candidate to head the new company, although neither VW or Porsche have commented on the reports.
Separately, VW union boss Bernd Osterloh told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that he thought any merger should be structured through a public limited company that would allow worker representatives to hold seats on the supervisory board.
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By GlobalDataHe said any plan that the new merged entity be governed by any new holding company would be opposed by labour and added that VW would also lose the protection afforded by the VW Law under a holding company.
The two familes agreed last week to merge the two carmakers, abandoning plans for Porsche to take over its much bigger rival after racking up some EUR9bn in debt acquiring a 50.1% stake last year.
