Another VW for sale today
It looks like VW is about to get a new owner.
According to a press release from the EU courts, the VW Law, which has protected VW from takeovers since 1960, has been ruled as illegal.
The court ruled that the law prevented free movement of capital, and further criticised three key elements of the 47-year old ruling.
They disagreed with the right of the Federal State and Lower Saxony to be able appoint two representatives to the VW supervisory board, on condition that they hold shares in the company.
They also raised concern at the limitation on shareholders voting rights being capped at 20%, even when their shareholding exceeds that percentage.
Finally, they disagreed with the massively high 80% majority required to pass resolutions, which, under the Law on public limited companies, requires only a majority of 75%.
The decision leaves the door open to Porsche CEO Wendelin Weideking’s ambitions, as the Stuttgart marque seeks to grow.
At present, Porsche holds a 31% stake in VW, but those in the industry know predict that they will seek to increase this to 51% over the next couple of years.