Federal Cartel Office
Renovation is making progress: Porsche is allowed to join Varta
The battery company Varta has to worry about its future. Now help comes from a sports car manufacturer. He uses an important product from Varta.
The Federal Cartel Office has cleared the way for sports car manufacturer Porsche to join the financially troubled battery company Varta. The Stuttgart car manufacturer is allowed to take over a majority stake in Varta’s car battery subsidiary V4Drive Battery, the authorities in Bonn announced. The subsidiary is the Varta division for large-format lithium-ion cells for electric cars. According to previous information, these will be used in the hybrid drive of the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS.
Varta will remain a minority shareholder in its existing subsidiary. The President of the Federal Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, said that the merger control review was only concerned with whether the project raised competition concerns. This can be ruled out.
Federal Cartel Office: Porsche does not acquire control over Varta
According to the Federal Cartel Office, as part of the project, Porsche will not acquire any control over Varta, in particular no veto rights with regard to strategic business policy decisions. As an additional shareholder, the Michael Tojner Group will remain involved in Varta through a subsidiary.
The battery manufacturer from Ellwangen, Swabia, has been stumbling for some time now – and wants to force the old shareholders out of the company in its fight for survival. The Corporate Stabilization and Restructuring Act (StaRUG) is intended to make this possible. In a StaRUG procedure, the interests of shareholders can be undermined.
Liabilities of almost half a billion euros
Varta registered the procedure in July. In August, the group announced an agreement on the restructuring concept. According to Varta boss Michael Ostermann, almost all of the groups affected by the restructuring are behind this. The concept essentially envisages two steps: On the one hand, a haircut and the extension of loans are intended to reduce liabilities from almost half a billion euros to 230 million euros.
In addition, the share capital of Varta AG is to be reduced to zero euros. The effect: The current shareholders leave without compensation and the group loses its stock market listing. After that, shares will be issued again – but only to a company owned by Tojners and Porsche. Both of them cost 30 million euros each. Another 60 million come from the creditors as loans. Around 4,000 people recently worked at Varta.
dpa
Source: Stern
