Former Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech is negotiating the sale of his share of Porsche SE.

In a statement, Porsche SE said the Porsche and Piëch families were in negotiations as to whether Piech would transfer the major part of his indirectly held ordinary shares in Porsche Automobil Holding to members of the Porsche and Piech families.

“At present, it is still unforeseeable whether the aforesaid changes in the shareholder structure of Porsche Automobil Holding SE will in fact occur.”

A Reuters report noted Porsche SE is the group through which the billionaire Porsche and Piech families control VW and said the negotiations concerned a 14.7% stake worth around EUR1bn (US$1.1bn).

The Porsche SE statement confirmed an earlier Der Spiegel magazine report. 

The news agency added the Porsche and Piech families have a right of first refusal on shares held by Piech.

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Reuters said Piech had come under increasing pressure since an unsourced media report last month said he had told top directors about potential cheating of diesel emission tests six months before the scandal became public in September 2015.

VW strongly denied this and last month indicated it could take legal action against Piech.

VW declined to comment to Reuters on Porsche SE’s statement.

Earlier this month, newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported Piech could lose his supervisory board post at Porsche SE.