"Porsche IPO 추진하는 Volkswagen Group…전기차 전환 가속화할 것"

Korea Investment & Securities Report

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Myunghwan] As Volkswagen Group is pushing for the initial public offering (IPO) of its sports car brand Porsche, securities analysts have suggested that if the IPO is successfully completed, Volkswagen's transition to electric vehicles will accelerate.

On the 11th, Korea Investment & Securities analyzed, "The current market valuation of Porsche is estimated to be between 60 to 85 billion euros (82 to 116 trillion KRW)."

On the 5th (local time), Volkswagen's management and board of directors formalized the IPO plan for Porsche. Volkswagen, which currently owns 100% of Porsche, plans to split its shares evenly between common and preferred stock, and list 25% of the preferred shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by the end of September at the earliest. Volkswagen has approved selling its 25% stake in Porsche plus one share to the group holding company 'Porsche SE,' aiming to strengthen the Porsche-Pi?ch family’s control over Porsche.

If this IPO proceeds successfully, it is expected to become the largest in the European market. According to financial information provider Refinitiv Data, if the valuation is formed at the upper end of the forecast, it could be the largest IPO in German history and one of the largest in Europe since 1999.

Korea Investment & Securities explained that Porsche has successfully launched sports utility vehicle (SUV) models such as the Cayenne and Macan, raising the SUV proportion to the highest among luxury car brands. Based on this, Porsche is also evaluated to have the highest operating profit margin among automakers. The steady growth of the luxury car market is also cited as one of Porsche’s success factors. Global luxury car sales have been steadily increasing for 12 years, except for the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Korea Investment & Securities forecasted that Porsche’s IPO will accelerate Volkswagen’s electric vehicle transition strategy. Volkswagen plans to return 49% of the funds raised from the IPO to shareholders as a special dividend in early 2023, and use the remaining amount as resources for Volkswagen’s electric vehicle transition. Previously, Volkswagen announced it would invest 52 billion euros in electric vehicle development by 2026. Jinwoo Kim, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, predicted, "If Porsche is listed at the currently discussed valuation level, it will instantly rank 5th in market capitalization among global automakers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.