Porsche Avoids $1.95 Billion Lawsuit From Hedge Funds

The results from Porsche‘s failed takeover of the Volkswagen Group are still haunting the German marque to this day even though its attempted acquisition of VW started almost a decade ago in 2005. Today however, there is some relief for Porsche following the announcement that it has avoided a $1.95 billion lawsuit from 23 separate hedge funds.

In 2005, Porsche began purchasing Volkswagen shares. In 2007, Porsche increased its stake in the Volkswagen Group to 30 per cent and in 2008, confirmation came that Porsche wanted to purchase an incredible 75 per cent of the VW Group’s shares. However, following the financial crash of 2008, Porsche was unable to loan any more money from banks and instead starting looking to outside investors to finalise the takeover.

However, Volkswagen hit back and had wealthy investors from Qatar to invest in it and when it was all said and done, not only did Porsche’s plans to takeover VW fai, it ended up being acquired by VW and joining the conglomerate.

This particular lawsuit was triggered by 23 hedge funds that claimed they and their investors were misled by Porsche’s denial that it was attempting to acquire Volkswagen. Ultimately, stocks rose and fell throughout the attempted takeover.

However, a judge in Stuttgart has ruled that there is no evidence Porsche was planning to takeover Volkswagen as early as 2008.

Source:Automobile Magazine