Hanover, Germany - German carmaker Porsche SE rejected Friday suggestions that its rescue by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) was in jeopardy and said moves towards the equity injection were on track. Family-owned Porsche caught a tiger by the tail last year with its purchase of 51 per cent of Volkswagen, and now fears the volume carmaker will gobble it up.
In a new twist Friday, sources said the German state of Lower Saxony was itself wooing QIA to become a key shareholder in Volkswagen, a move that would likely thwart Porsche's plan to regain the upper hand.
Reports say the family proprietors of Porsche are offering QIA about one third of Porsche SE, which owns the half of Volkswagen but also owes banks some 9 billion euros (13 billion dollars).
A Porsche spokesman said, "due diligence checks have been completed positively.
"We are now into the home straight in the negotiations." He was responding to market rumours that the talks with QIA had collapsed. QIA has said it is likely to decide at the end of next week whether to step in.
Porsche, a smaller company, nearly carried off a cheeky takeover of Volkswagen last year before the recession left it gasping for life.
Volkswagen has demanded to take over the Porsche factories and brand as its price for letting Porsche's proprietors off the debt hook and keep their block of VW shares.
Friday's statements from the Porsche and Volkswagen camps left it unclear which side has gained the upper hand.
Porsche chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking has staked all his hopes on QIA and a possible anti-recession loan from Berlin to avoid the demise of Porsche as an independent carmaker.
In remarks to appear this Sunday in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche said his company which makes Mercedes-Benz cars was not bidding for Porsche. "If we were, we'd say so," he said.
Lower Saxony, which owns one fifth of Volkswagen and effectively controls it, would welcome Qatar as a direct shareholder in the German company, rather than as part-owner of Porsche's 51-per-cent stake, sources said.
Up for grabs in the struggle are the hugely expensive options which Porsche acquired to increase its Volkswagen stake from 51 to 75 per cent.
The Gulf state could either help Porsche to win 75-per-cent control, which would infuriate Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen workforce, or buy those options for itself and leave Porsche largely powerless, analysts said.
Lower Saxony Premier Christian Wulff met Qatari emissaries one week ago.
QIA and Lower Saxony have had talks and arrived at "extensive agreement," the sources in Lower Saxony who are close to the talks told the German Press Agency dpa.
