Looking for investors
June 20, 2009
German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, in an interview with the Bild newspaper to be published on Sunday, June 21, confirmed that KfW was not in favor of handing out a massive loan to the luxury car maker.
The final decision will be made by a government commission, which is to meet at a yet-unspecified date.
"Objectively, the chances of receiving a positive reply are becoming slimmer following the negative opinion issued by KfW," Guttenberg said.
The minister said the request for government aid was being looked into but insisted that "any company should first and foremost try to solve any problems without help from the government."
"Finding investors, however, is the company's own business and politics should certainly stay away from that," he said.
Porsche has asked for a 1.75-billion-euro ($ 2.4-billion) loan from KfW and will now have a chance to improve the bid. The luxury car maker says it will continue negotiations with the bank in the hope that the loan may still get approved.
Investor talks with Daimler and Qatar
Porsche is currently in talks with Qatar to win the Gulf state as an investor. Media reports are suggesting Qatar might take a stake in Porsche of somewhere between 25 and 30 percent, which would amount to a blocking minority.
The car maker is still largely controlled by the owner families of Porsche and Piech.
On Saturday, newsmagazine Manager Magazin also reported that Porsche had entered talks with yet another possible investor – rival car company Daimler, the owners of the Mercedes car brand.
Porsche ran up nine billion euros in debt as it tried to take over Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen through the purchases of complex stock options.
Like most companies in the auto industry, Porsche has also been hit by the global economic recession. The company on Friday released figures suggesting a sales drop of 15 percent in the last nine months.
ai/AFP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Toma Tasovac