Families meet to resolve Porsche/VW strategy

The Porsche and Piech families are reportedly meeting in the Austrian city of Salzburg today to try and come to an agreement on how to reduce holding company Porsche SE’s €9 billion debt.

Principal among the discussions will be what to do with Volkswagen in which the families own a 51% stake. According to some reports, Porsche supervisory board chairman Wolfgang Porsche is hoping to merge both companies into a new holding company, while VW chairman Ferdinand Piech (pictured) would prefer his company to buy out Porsche’s automotive arm.

According to the Financial Times, both families are constrained by a family contract that demands unity on any issue to be decided by Porsche’s supervisory board. Family members Hans Michel Piech, Hans- Peter Porsche and Oliver Porsche are rumoured to be attending the meeting.

The luxury carmaker began buying up VW stock back in 2005 and said last year that it hoped to control 75% by the end of this year. However, a furore over the purchase of cash settled options allied to the downturn in the economy and subsequent fall in car sales has left Porsche with little option but to renegotiate its strategy.

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