Porsche to debut amid market tumult in historic IPO - Reuters

Cars of German manufacturer Porsche are parked outside the stock exchange prior to Porsche's IPO in Frankfurt, Germany, September 29, 2022.

FRANKFURT, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Porsche AG shares made a strong start on Thursday after Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) defied volatile markets to list the sports car brand at a valuation of 75 billion euros ($72 billion) in Germany's second-biggest market debut ever.

Volkswagen priced Porsche AG shares at the top end of the indicated range and raised 19.5 billion euros from the flotation to fund the group's electrification drive.

Porsche AG stock was trading up 4.6% from the issue price of 82.50 euros at 0927 GMT.

That lifted Porsche AG's valuation to 78.5 billion euros, close to the market capitalisation of Volkswagen as a whole, which is worth around 81 billion euros, and puts it ahead of rivals like Ferrari (RACE.MI).

"There's a lot to like about the company, with its aggressive electrification plans, expected strong cashflow generation and premium brand positioning in the market," Chi Chan, Portfolio Manager European Equities at Federated Hermes Limited, told Reuters.

The Porsche and Piech families, whose holding company Porsche SE controls Volkswagen, will in turn solidify their control over Porsche AG as they will own 25%, plus one ordinary share - carrying voting rights - in the sports car brand.

Up to 113,875,000 preferred Porsche AG shares, carrying no voting rights, were sold in the initial public offering.