Porsche woes
June 30, 2009
The Stuttgart-based carmaker on Tuesday said it was not going to renew its requests after an earlier bid for 1,75 billion euros ($2.46 billion) had been rejected.
KfW bank told the company it could make a new bid "at any time," but Porsche said in a statement that it "will not take it up on this offer."
"Porsche will now hold talks about alternative financing possibilities," the statement added.
The company ran up 9 billion euros ($12 billion) worth of debt in an attempt to take fellow German automaker Volkswagen.
Porsche currently holds a 51 percent stake in VW but the takeover attempt has strained the luxury car maker beyond its limits. As the car industry worldwide has been hit hard, Porsche faces disaster should its liabilities be called.
Qatar fund offers investment
The decision to drop the application for a loan from KfW is likely to boost the chances for potential outside investors. Porsche confirmed that a Qatar investment fund has offered to invest in the debt-laden company and to buy stock options.
"We have received an offer from Qatar for the acquisition of participation and a purchase of options on Volkswagen shares," a Porsche spokesman said.
The offer would serve as a basis for further talks, but will have to be examined by the Porsche and Piech families who own all of the voting rights in Porsche, he added.
On Monday, Porsche firmly rejected an offer from Volkswagen to take a 49 percent stake in the company.
Porsche and Volkswagen have been arguing for weeks over who will have control after a merger, planned last year when Porsche was enjoying a boom in sales, goes through.
ai/AP/dpa/AFP
Editor: Trinity Hartman