US investors turn down Porsche settlement offer

A group of US investors rejected a settlement offer from German family-controlled carmaker Porsche, accused of misleading the market in 2008 over the buyout of fellow automaker Volkswagen.

“A few months ago there were some discussions between counsel for Porsche and counsel for various investors who had sued Porsche in the US,” James Sabella, director at law firm Grant & Eisenhofer, which represents some of the US investors, told CampdenFB.

However, he added that when it came to reaching an agreement, "the parties were far apart". 

The value of the offer was not disclosed, but according to German Manager Magazin, it was in the low-triple-digit million euro range.

The Stuttgart-based company has faced lawsuits in both Germany and the US after investors alleged the automaker made misleading comments about its intentions to buy out Volkswagen, causing investors to suffer a $5 billion (€3.7 billion) loss.

In 2008, Porsche said it acquired a 75% stake in Volkswagen but its takeover attempt went wrong and, after accumulating debts of €10 billion, the group had to be rescued by Volkswagen.

However, plans for a merger of the two groups were abandoned in September, when Volkswagen said it was impossible to quantify thedeal's economic risks because of Porsche’s pending legal issues. 

Porsche and Volkswagen are controlled by opposing branches of the same family. Both companies are headed by grandsons of Ferdinand Porsche, who founded Porsche in 1931. Wolfgang Porsche runs Porsche, while Ferdinand Piech manages Volkswagen and also owns 46.3% of Porsche.A group of US investors rejected a settlement offer from German family-controlled carmaker Porsche, accused of misleading the market in 2008 over the buyout of fellow automaker Volkswagen.