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Porsche has said in a statement that reports of it planning to increase its 31 percent stake in Volkswagen to 75 percent were pure speculation. The report was in Focus magazine, but cited no Porsche representative in its assertion.

“The speculation that it would increase it to 75 percent ignores the reality in the VW shareholder structure,” Porsche said. “The background of these latest media reports are apparently bourse speculations which can be traced to ideas being mooted about by analysts and investors.”

Porsche is currently the single biggest shareholder in Europe’s biggest carmaker, followed by the German state of Lower Saxony with its 20 percent shareholding. Even if Porsche were to attempt a stab at acquiring the remaining shares on the open market it would be extremely difficult; Germany’s powerful unions would probably not take too kindly to such a move, even though Porsche most likely saved VW from a possible foreign takeover by its shareholding move. On the other hand Ferdinand Piëch, whose family owns about 13% of Porsche, wants to run a bigger company than what his grandfather and uncle Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche respectively did.

Source : Reuters