Qatar becomes major shareholder in Volkswagen

[rickaren]

Qatar becomes major shareholder in Volkswagen

Posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 2:26 PM EST.(Employee News)

Qatar has a 17 percent voting stake in Volkswagen and Porsche, and the state is set to take a seat on the automakers’ supervisory board, underlining the more active role Gulf states are playing in the German auto industry, Reuters reported.

The move has also fueled expectations that the falling number of freely traded VW ordinary shares could mean they are replaced on Germany’s blue-chip index by its preferred shares, the news service said. After exercising options in Volkswagen—as had been expected by market participants for some time—Qatar Holding LLC now holds 17 percent in Volkswagen’s share capital, Reuters said.

Volkswagen ordinary shares have been a prominent feature of Germany’s blue-chip index since its inception in 1987, the report said. Expulsion from the index is expected to put pressure on the value of the ordinary shares, which last October traded at above 1,000 euros, making the carmaker temporarily the world’s largest by market value, the story said. (Reuters)