STUTTGART - Porsche AG said it will ask shareholders to approve a motion to create 22.75 mln eur in so-called reserve share capital.
This would allow the company to issue 8.75 mln new shares -- both ordinary voting and non-voting preference stock -- within a designated period of time should the car maker need to raise additional financing at short notice, it said in the invitation to its Jan 26 annual general meeting (AGM). In addition, management will ask shareholders for permission to issue the new shares without subscription rights to existing shareholders. Instead, the shares, which might be ordinary voting shares, would be used to pay for 'companies, parts of companies and stakes in companies or other assets,' the invitation said.
Porsche's share capital is currently divided equally into 8.75 mln ordinary voting shares and 8.75 mln non-voting preference shares. At present, only the non-voting preference shares are in free float on the stock exchange, while the ordinary voting shares are held exclusively by the Porsche and Piech families.
Based on the current price of Porsche's preference shares, the issue could raise 7.9 bln eur for the car maker.
Analysts estimate the money could be used to acquire a majority stake in Volkswagen AG. Porsche has recently amassed a stake of 27.4 pct in Europe's biggest car maker, but has signalled it has no plans to raise that stake beyond 29.9 pct so as not to be obliged to launch a full public takeover offer. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/amk/jlw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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