Porsche IPO valuation sends Volkswagen shares up 1.3%

Volkswagen shares were up 1.3% when markets opened on September 19 after the carmaker said on September 17 that it was targeting a valuation of up to 75 billion euros ($74.84 billion) for the luxury sportscar brand Porsche.

The issue could be Europe's third largest IPO on record if the upper price target is reached, according to Refinitiv data, Reuters reports.

Volkswagen's share price was trading at 147.38 euros by 0727 GMT, from 145.38 at close on September 17. The shares had risen 3% in premarket trade on September 19.

Shares in Porsche Holding SE, Volkswagen's largest shareholder, were 1.5% higher, topping Germany's DAX blue-chip index.

Volkswagen announced on September 17 night that it would price preferred shares in the flotation of Porsche AG at 76.50 euros to 82.50 euros per share.

A prospectus with further details on the listing is expected to be published on September 19 afternoon.

The carmaker plans on placing up to 12.5% of Porsche's share capital with investors in the form of preferred shares, which do not carry voting rights.

Trading will begin on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on September 29, in potentially Germany's second-largest IPO in history.

Already, cornerstone investors have laid claim to almost 40% of the share capital on offer: Qatar Investment Authority, Volkswagen's third-largest shareholder, has committed to buying 4.99%, while Norway's sovereign wealth fund and T. Rowe Price will purchase shares worth 750 million euros, the statement of September 19 said.

Abu Dhabi's ADQ will buy shares worth 300 million euros.

"The Porsche IPO will most likely be a success... investors are queuing up. If the Porsche IPO goes well, one could imagine placing other parts [of Volkswagen] such as Audi on the stock exchange," auto expert Arndt Ellinghorst of data analytics firm QuantCo said.

The subscription period for private and institutional investors is expected to run from September 20 to September 28, with shares offered to private investors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Spain.

In line with Volkswagen's agreement earlier in September with Porsche SE, 25% plus one ordinary share in the sportscar brand, which do carry voting rights, will go to Porsche SE at the price of the preferred shares plus a 7.5% premium.

Porsche SE will finance the acquisition of the ordinary shares with debt capital of up to 7.9 billion euros, it said in a separate statement.

Total proceeds from the sale will be 18.1 billion to 19.5 billion euros.