Volkswagen supplies bodies for the newly introduced Porsche Panamera. (Photo: Porsche)
Volkswagen is ready to up the ante on its initial purchase of Porsche, saying that it would pay $5.8 million to acquire 49.9 percent of the sports-car company instead of the planned 42 percent, Reuters news service reported today.
Europe's largest auto maker, VW said it would make the investment as an initial step toward a full merger with Porsche’s auto business scheduled for 2011. VW also said the company was making good progress on cooperative projects between the two German automakers, Reuters said.
Porsche sought help from VW in an ironic financial twist after it went too deeply into debt while attempting to acquire control of Volkswagen. Porsche took on more than $15 billion in debt to buy a 51 percent stake in VW and 20 percent of VW stock.
Porsche had sought components and technologies from VW to help its sports cars meet increasingly stringent emissions rules. VW currently supplies components for about a third of all Porsche cars, including bodies for the four-door Cayenne SUV and newly introduced Panamera luxury-sedan.
In August, Porsche said it would sell 42 percent of Porsche AG to VW for about $4.9 billion, which would begin a merger of the companies.
