The merger between Volkswagen and Porsche has been a long, long time coming, dating back to 2005 when Porsche bought a stake in VW in an effort to block a possible hostile takeover by the automaker – which quickly turned into a planned hostile takeover of VW by Porsche.
After funds fell short for Porsche in its planned takeover of VW, the more plebeian automaker quickly turned the tables and let Porsche exactly who would be buying who by announcing its intended takeover of Porsche. But before VW could finish its epic turnaround, Porsche must first settle multiple open lawsuits in Germany and the U.S. over charges that the sportscar manufacturer manipulated the market illegally.
VW and Porsche had first believed the legal challenges would be completed in time to allow their merger to go forward according to schedule, but now VW has released new information confirming delays as the Board of Management wishes to wait for the litigation to be settled before it can properly quantify the economic risks of the merger.
That is not to say either party is getting cold feet, they reassure us, but rather than legal and accounting practices must be adhered to and that means a delay is inevitable.
