Porsche's chase of VW has left big debts
Porsche, which is struggling to refinance the huge debts it has built up as part of its takeover attempt of VW, has asked for a 1.75 billion euro (£1.5bn) loan from state-owned German bank KfW.
Porsche failed to raise the full 12.5 billion euros of credit it needed to refinance its debts back in March, managing to secure just 10 billion euros.
Since then Porsche has been undertaking the big-business equivalent of searching looking down the back of the sofa for loose change. So far it has managed to find 700 million euros from VW, and the 1.75 billion euros from KfW will make up the bulk of the rest of the shortfall.
Don't think that Porsche is pushing for a GM or Chrysler-style government handout, however; Porsche says it intends to repay the loan at commercial interest rates.
The application is politically sensitive, as the loan money would come from a 40 billion euro KfW fund earmarked for corporate financing as part of the German government's economic stimulus programme - and that has a 300 million euro limit.
Porsche's costly takeover attempt of VW has now stalled and, though it owns 51 per cent of VW, a merger is now more likely than a takeover.