Porsche Brand Chief: Still Examining Options To Forge Joint Company With VW

Porsche Automobil Holding SE (PAH3.XE) said Wednesday its goal to forge a joint company with Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) remains, but it's unclear how the deal will be achieved.

"I can't tell you today which way we'll go ... At the moment we're still examining if there are alternatives to the put and call options agreed between the companies," Porsche brand chief Matthias Mueller said in an emailed statement. Mueller is also a member of Porsche Holding's executive board.

He said a merger between Volkswagen and Porsche's holding company after 2011, which is the plan of an initial merger agreement, is one of the alternatives.

On Tuesday, Mueller's remarks on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Motor Show caused a stir as they suggested he was expecting the previously agreed put and call options to be exercised.

His remarks came as a surprise as Volkswagen's Chief Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch had reiterated late Monday that the auto maker hasn't identified possible alternatives and said it was "too early to say how they might look."

In August 2009, Volkswagen and Porsche decided to forge a joint company after a fierce power struggle. Following the agreement, Volkswagen took a 49.9% stake in Porsche's core sports-car unit and acquired options to take over the remaining 50.1% stake at a later stage if the merger doesn't work out as planned. Porsche's holding company would then remain a separate entity for the time being.

Volkswagen CFO Poetsch confirmed on Monday that the merger with the holding company is the preferred scenario, noting that exercising the option to take over the sports-car business before the second half of 2014 would trigger a significant tax burden. He said Volkswagen could look into whether or not the anticipated cost synergies through a closer tie-up would justify facing a higher tax bill.

Last week, Volkswagen said its management board will look into alternative ways to create a combined company amid persistent legal issues and expects to present them to the firm's supervisory board by the end of this year.

Several U.S. hedge funds have filed lawsuits in a New York court over alleged market manipulation at Porsche when the Stuttgart firm built its 51% stake in Volkswagen and acquired complex stock options to take over full control of its much-larger peer.

Porsche's bold move, however, backfired when credit markets dried up during the financial crisis and the company had to agree to a tie-up under Volkswagen's leadership.

German public prosecutors are looking into allegations of market manipulation as well. Investigations continue and it is uncertain when these legal issues can be resolved.

-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512; christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com

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