Qatar Sells 10% Stake in Porsche SE to Founder’s Family

The descendants of Porsche and Volkswagen founder Ferdinand Porsche have acquired the 10% stake in Porsche Automobil Holding SE owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding LLC for an undisclosed price.

With that purchase, the Piech and Porsche families own 100% of Porsche SE, which holds 50.7% of Volkswagen AG's common stock. Porsche SE completed the sale of its Porsche sports car unit to VW last year.

Porsche SE sold the 10% stake to Qatar in 2009 to bolster its shaky balance sheet after the German firm amassed more than €10 billion in debt during its failed VW takeover attempt. Bloomberg News estimates that stake is now worth about €930 million.

Qatar says it intends to continue to own 17% of VW's common stock. The fund notes that it also was a major investor in the company's €1.2 billion convertible bond offering last week.

VW tells Bloomberg that it has no plans for any further equity-related sales. A common stock offering, which dilutes existing shareholdings, might require Porsche SE to buy more stock or lose majority control of the German auto giant.