(Updated with course, details, background)
FRANKFURT, September 29 (Reuters) –
Porsche AG stock debuted at 84 euros on Thursday, valuing the company at 75 billion euros in Germany’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in more than 25 years.
Volkswagen had set the benchmark price for the IPO on Wednesday at 82.50 euros per share, the top of the range of 76.50 to 82.50 euros previously announced.
Around 10:00 a.m., Porsche AG, however, posted a decline to 82.82 euros, while the title Porsche SE fell by 6.2% and Volkswagen by 4.2%.
The IPO sees the valuation of Porsche AG at a level close to the market capitalization of its parent company, Volkswagen, valued at 84 billion euros, ahead of its competitors including Ferrari.
This operation, which should bring in around 19.5 billion euros, comes at a time of market instability.
Volkswagen said this instability is precisely why investors with capital to invest need a stable and attractive value like Porsche AG.
“Porsche was and remains the pearl of the Volkswagen Group,” said Chris-Oliver Schickentanz, chief investment officer at fund manager Capitell.
Faced with tens of billions of dollars in costs related to the group’s transition to electric mobility, Volkswagen executives had long been considering the IPO of Porsche.
Up to 113,875,000 preferred shares, without voting rights, will be placed with investors during the IPO, which is the second largest in Germany since the beginnings of Deutsche Telekom in 1996. (Report Victoria Waldersee and Emma-Victoria Farr; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)