The Volkswagen Group has confirmed its interest in a Porsche initial public offering (IPO)

Volkswagen Group has finally confirmed its interest in taking its Porsche subsidiary public, which has been speculated for years.

On Tuesday, 22 February 2022, the VW group revealed that it was having advanced conversations concerning an initial public offering of Porsche.

The discussions are principally between VW AG's board of directors and the board of Porsche SE, the holding company majority-owned by the Porsche and Piech families, which holds 31.4 percent of VW Group and has 53.3 percent of voting rights. The consent of both boards is essential for a final verdict on the IPO.

Based on presumptions, the Porsche and Piech families are may have to sell some of their VW Group shares in order to buy shares in a public Porsche which will enable them to reclaim direct ownership of the sports car manufacturer, which they lost during Porsche's failed takeover of VW Group in the years leading to the global economic meltdown.

The Volkswagen Group is now working on ambitious electric vehicle and software development plans, and a Porsche spinoff, or at least a portion of it, may help raise some of the billions which would be a major boost.

During a media event for the unveiling of the Taycan in 2018, Porsche Chief Financial Officer Lutz Meschke raised the notion of an IPO, claiming that the company might be valued at up to $80 billion.

Considering the investment focus on automakers delivering electric vehicles, the value is likely to be substantially higher today.

In the last few years, some other automakers have gone public, either through IPOs or SPAC agreements. Some of which have been highly successful, such as Rivian's IPO and Lucid's SPAC agreement.

The VW Group was also speculated to be considering a spinoff of its subsidiary, Lamborghini, even if the company stated in 2020 that Lamborghini, along with Bentley and Ducati, will remain part of the VW Group.

But in 2021, there was a transfer of control of Bugatti to a new joint venture that was split 45/55 between Porsche and Rimac, a Croatian electric vehicle technology company.