//from the news wires//
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German luxury carmaker Porsche ... has secured a
further 8.27 percent stake in Volkswagen ..., making it VW's largest
shareholder once the transaction is completed before the end of October.
Together with its current interest of 10.26 percent, the Stuttgart-based
firm would control 18.53 percent of Europe's largest carmaker, Porsche said
on Friday.
It added that it has hedged against a rising stock price for VW and could
acquire another 3.4 percent over the market. The purchase would not give
Porche a bigger say because VW caps any shareholder's voting rights at 20
percent.
Nevertheless, it could help Porsche secure three of the 20 seats on VW's
supervisory board, chaired by Ferdinand Piech.
This would give it a heavier weight on the board than the German state of
Lower Saxony, which controls 18.2 percent of VW voting rights.
Porsche, part owned by Piech, had recently stated its intention to take a 19
percent voting rights stake in Volkswagen.
The maker of high-performance sports cars such as the 911 Carrera coupe also
said that the German federal cartel office had approved Porsche's plans to
acquire the stake.///
jimt