German car making giant Volkswagen (VW) has said it is aiming for a valuation of up to 75 billion euros ($75bn; £65.8bn) for Porsche when the luxury brand is floated on the stock market.

Trading in the shares is due to start in Frankfurt on 29 September.

A prospectus will be published on Monday, after which investors can subscribe to Porsche shares.

The share sale is set to be Germany's second-largest ever initial public offering (IPO).

"We are now in the home stretch with the IPO plans for Porsche and welcome the commitment of our cornerstone investors," VW's chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said.

VW said in a statement to investors that it will price preferred shares in the flotation of Porsche at 76.50 euros to 82.50 euros per share, which would give the sportscar maker a stock market valuation of 70bn euros to 75bn euros.

At the upper end of the range it would be Europe's third-largest IPO on record.

However, the figures announced on Sunday fell short of an earlier valuation target - as much as 85bn euros - amid investor concerns over rising interest rates and a potential global recession.

VW said it will raise as much as 9.4bn euros from the share sale, which will help pay for its shift to electric vehicles and spending on software development.

If the IPO goes ahead, VW said it will hold a meeting for investors in December when it plans to propose distributing a special dividend - 49% of the total gross proceeds - from the share sale to shareholders.

The deal comes even as relatively few companies have listed shares in Europe this year as the region faces an energy crisis, high inflation and rate hikes.

Under the IPO plan, the Porsche-Piech family - which lost control of the iconic brand to VW over a decade ago - will pay a premium to purchase shares that will hand back to it significant decision-making power.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1300 HRS, SEP 19, 2022
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