Porsche could be valued at over £147bn ahead of potential IPO

Market analysts have predicted that Porsche could be valued at in excess of £75 billion ahead of a public offering which aims to unlock value from the performance car brand.

The Financial Times has reported that Volkswagen Group would aim to raise around £16.7bn with an initial public offering of around a quarter of the Porsche brand if talks about the potential move with major shareholders, the Porsche-Piëch family, are successful.

Half of the shares offered would have voting rights attached, the FT’s sources said, and a special dividend was also being considered.

A potential IPO is said to be the result of mounting pressure on the VW Group to boost a share price that has lagged behind that of Tesla – which recently reached $1 trillion (around £740bn) – over the past year.

Porsche’s Tesla-rivalling, fully electric Taycan coupe outsold its iconic 911 in 2021 and the wider VW Group is likely to see a positive response to its future electric vehicle (EV) model range plans.

Last year the German car maker said that it would begin to introduce a unified battery cell strategy to be scaled up around the world from 2023.

By 2030, the unified cell is to be installed in around 80% of all the Group’s electric vehicles in a move which is expected to reduce the cost of battery cells by up to 50% in the entry-level segment and by up to 30% in the volume segment.

VW also said that expects EVs to exceed 70% of its European sales volumes by 2030 – doubling its previous target of 35%.

VW and Porsche would not be the first car brands to target a Tesla-style IPO to drive value in the wake of EV successes.

Polestar revealed its plan to embark on a £14.6bn public listing as part of a strategy to fund “significant investment in products and the expansion of operations and markets”, last September.

The Geely-owned performance EV manufacturer, which is currently driving sales with just one car model in 14 markets, already counts Volvo Car Group, affiliates of Geely chairman Eric Li and movie star Leonardo DiCaprio amongst its stakeholders.

Commenting on the IPO, which would involve a definitive business combination agreement with Gores Guggenheim, Polestar chief executive Thomas Ingenlath said: “The proposed business combination and listing position Polestar as a financially strong, future proof, global electric car company.

“It will enable us to accelerate our growth, strategy and most importantly, our mission towards sustainable mobility.”

VW told the FT that a final decision on whether to proceed with an IPO had yet to be taken and would be subject to approval by VW Group’s management and supervisory boards.