Editing Volkswagen Group (section)

===Ownership===

Under the [[Volkswagen Law]], no shareholder in Volkswagen AG could exercise more than 20&nbsp;percent of the firm's voting rights, regardless of their level of stock holding.<ref>{{cite news|title=Top EU court finds against VW law|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6356787.stm|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=13 February 2007|access-date=15 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206031746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6356787.stm|archive-date=6 December 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> This law was supposed to protect Volkswagen Group from takeovers.<ref name=MT>{{cite web|title=VW Law is a write-off|url=http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/channel/StrategyOperations/news/754256/vw-law-write-off|work=Management Today|date=23 October 2007|access-date=27 December 2009|quote=''State of Lower Saxony, VW's second biggest shareholder, whose premier Christian Wulff sits on the board'' |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080115034024/http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/channel/StrategyOperations/news/754256/vw-law-write-off |archive-date = 15 January 2008}}</ref> In October 2005, [[Porsche SE|Porsche]] acquired an 18.53&nbsp;percent stake in the business, and in July 2006, Porsche increased that ownership to more than 25&nbsp;percent. Analysts disagreed as to whether the investment was a good fit for Porsche's strategy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Porsche cites need for changes at Volkswagen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/business/worldbusiness/07iht-porsche.3816927.html|work=International Herald Tribune / nytimes.com|date=7 November 2006|access-date=15 December 2009|first=Mark|last=Landler|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901232109/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/business/worldbusiness/07iht-porsche.3816927.html|archive-date=1 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 26 March 2007, after the [[European Union]] moved against the Volkswagen law, Porsche took its holding to 30.9&nbsp;percent, triggering a takeover bid under German law. Porsche formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to take over Volkswagen Group, setting its offer price at the lowest possible legal value, but intended the move to avoid a competitor taking a large stake, or to stop hedge funds dismantling Volkswagen Group, which is Porsche's most important partner.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6494593.stm|title=Porsche triggers a VW takeover bid|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=26 March 2007|access-date=15 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430193512/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6494593.stm|archive-date=30 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 16 September 2008, Porsche announced that the company had increased its stake in Volkswagen AG to 35&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schwartz|first=Nelson D.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/worldbusiness/17porsche.html|title=Porsche Takes a Controlling Interest in VW|date=16 September 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 April 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> By October 2008, Porsche held 42.6&nbsp;percent of Volkswagen AG's [[Common stock|ordinary shares]], and held [[option (finance)|stock option]]s on another 31.5&nbsp;percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.porsche-se.com/pho/en/press/newsarchive2008/?pool=pho%20%20&id=2008-10-26|title=Porsche heads for domination agreement|date=26 October 2008|access-date=6 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420042406/http://www.porsche-se.com/pho/en/press/newsarchive2008/?pool=pho%20%20&id=2008-10-26|archive-date=20 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> thus, effectively holding over 74&nbsp;percent; 42.6&nbsp;percent actual shares, and the rest as convertible options.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/30/porsche-admits-its-not-invincible-post-14-sales-decline|title=Porsche admits it's not invincible, posts 14% sales decline|date=30 January 2009 |publisher=Autoblog.com|access-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016051844/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/30/porsche-admits-its-not-invincible-post-14-sales-decline/|archive-date=16 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Volkswagen AG briefly became the world's most valuable company, as the stock price rose to over €1,000 per share as [[short (finance)|short sellers]] tried to cover their positions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7697082.stm|title=Hedge funds make £18bn loss on VW|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=29 October 2008|access-date=15 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125144950/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7697082.stm|archive-date=25 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The substantial investment in Volkswagen left Porsche with huge financial burden with its debts accumulating up to 13 billion euros by 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/03/31/porsche-volkswagen-options-markets-equity-automotive.html|title=Porsche Mired In Debt|work=Forbes|date=3 March 2009|access-date=15 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420062633/http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/31/porsche-volkswagen-options-markets-equity-automotive.html|archive-date=20 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Porsche would get emergency infusion of about a billion dollars from Volkswagen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.volkswagenag.com/content/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2010/03/Annual_Report_2009.bin.html/binarystorageitem/file/Y_2009_e.pdf |title=Annual Report 2009 |publisher=Volkswagen AG |date=10 February 2010 |access-date=6 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235650/http://www.volkswagenag.com/content/vwcorp/info_center/en/publications/2010/03/Annual_Report_2009.bin.html/binarystorageitem/file/Y_2009_e.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref> In July 2012, Volkswagen completed takeover of Porsche ending the four-year saga and formed an integrated automotive group with Porsche. [[Porsche AG]] would become the 10th brand of Volkswagen. The holding company Porsche SE was left with 31 percent of the subscribed capital of Volkswagen AG, and 50.7 percent of the voting rights in the company.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/05/volkswagen-buys-porsche |title=Volkswagen swallows Porsche |newspaper=The Guardian |date=5 July 2012 |access-date=6 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416070122/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/05/volkswagen-buys-porsche |archive-date=16 April 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{As of|2020|12|31}}, share ownership of Volkswagen AG is distributed as follows:<ref name=VWAG-shareholders>{{cite web |title=Shareholder Structure |url=https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/InvestorRelations/shares/shareholder-structure.html |website=www.volkswagenag.com |access-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107032127/https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/InvestorRelations/shares/shareholder-structure.html|archive-date=7 November 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subscribed capital:
!Percentage!![[Shareholder]] name
|-
|31.4%||[[Porsche Automobil Holding SE]]
|-
|25.9%||[[Foreign institutional investors]]
|-
|14.6%||[[Qatar Investment Authority|Qatar Holding LLC]]
|-
|11.8%||[[Lower Saxony|State of Lower Saxony]]
|-
|12.9%||Private shareholders / Others
|-
|3.4%||German institutional investors
|}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Voting rights:
!Percentage!![[Shareholder]] name
|-
|53.3%||[[Porsche Automobil Holding SE]]
|-
|20.0%||[[Lower Saxony|State of Lower Saxony]]
|-
|17.0%||[[Qatar Investment Authority|Qatar Holding LLC]]
|-
|9.7%||Others
|}
{{col-end}}