Since VW and Porsche started playing footsie, there have been enough twists and turns to fill TTAC’s pages with nothing but Deutsche drama. First there was Porsche’s audacious bid for Volkswagen’s. Then, there was Volkswagen’s fight back to take over Porsche. Now, the Norwegians are unhappy. Norges Bank Investment Management, the bank which manages the fund invests Norway’s huge oil revenues, fear that the takeover of Porsche by Herr Piech and his band of Merry Volkswageners will, as the NBIM said in a letter to the members of the board of Volkswagen, “leave the impression of being designed to suit the needs of the Porsche controlling families.” Avarice? In the Porsche families? What next?
The letter [via Bloomberg] continues: “unless the supervisory board takes steps to alleviate our concerns, we see little reason to support the execution of the proposed transactions.” Could there be a Norwegian spanner in Volkswagen’s German juggernaut? The letter goes on to stress “deep concerns” on NBIM’s part, that they are “not alone in this” and have been in contact with “big, international investors” without naming them. Bluffing? In the NBIM?
The NBIM doesn’t disclose its current holdings, but, to give an idea of the power the NBIM hold in this deal, owned $461 million worth of shares at the 2008, about 0.4 of VW’s common shares based on the value at the time. They also own 529 million Norwegian Kroner (about $93 million) worth of Porsche stock, too. Which means, for these Norwegian Vikings to stop this deal or (at the very least) stall this deal, they’ll have to start getting more people on their side. Highly unlikely. The German state of Lower Saxony (You know? Those guys who hold a blocking share in Volkswagen?) gave its blessing in August by signing the deal off. Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald in London, said in an interview. “It seems a bit late in the game to argue about the deal. The majority of investors want to get this over and done with.”.
You can hardly blame the Norwegians for being leery. As Dennis Miller said back in ’89:
“German reunification: I view this in much the same way I view a possible Dean Martin – Jerry Lewis reconciliation: I never really enjoyed their work, and I’m not sure I need to see any of their new stuff”
Who cares about Norway or Norwegians?? They are just whale killers.
If it’s too much for them, they can always sell their position and move on. How about an investment in neighboring SAAB? That would sure be a great and profitable move (wink wink)…
Question: How can you tell if a Norwegian is annoyed? They don’t invite you to the peace talks?
They’re not just complaining about the deal as such. They have a number of legitimate qualms about details of the deal.
For example, how much VW paid for dealerships which were formerly owned by Porsche family members. Apparently, VW paid way above the market rate. A stockholder, even if he owned only a paltry few million shares, could cause a great deal of chagrin to VW if this was brought to court.
Martin Schwoerer : They’re not just complaining about the deal as such. They have a number of legitimate qualms about details of the deal.
I’m guessing that any deal of this magnitude is always going to have some “shady” aspects.
GO ahead, Porsche, Make my day
Annoy these village idiots until the Cows Come Home!
After all, it is these retards that gave the Nobel Peace prize to Yasser Arafat, Al Gore, Jimmah Cahtah and now an utterly undeserving B Hussein Obama!
So the Norwegians, who have made the Nobel Peace Prize a long-running joke, disapprove of German industrial issues. That’s odd. Until the invasion Norway couldn’t make up its mind whether to oppose the Third Reich. Even afterwards, fifteen thousand volunteered to fight with the Nazis, and Norwegian police ran the Holocaust in Norway on their own. And now, they think the US and the Taliban are morally equivalent. Wait a minute, I’ll pull out the world’s smallest violin.
Autosavant :
The Nobel Prize comes from Sweden.
Just say’n.
Edit: The prize is awarded in Oslo because at the time that Alfred Nobel set up the prize Norway and Sweden were joined in a union. Sorry to get OT.
“montgomery burns :
October 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Autosavant :
The Nobel Prize comes from Sweden.
Just say’n.
Edit: The prize is awarded in Oslo because at the time that Alfred Nobel set up the prize Norway and Sweden were joined in a union. Sorry to get OT.”
my comment is the same whether the leftie haters-idiots on the peace prize committee were Swedes or Norwegians. But I did read that they were very lef wing types elected by the NORwegian parliament.
I know some prizes are awarded in one and some in the other nation. I think Econs is awarded in Norway while the ceremony for the others is in Sweden.
Even Obama’s prize involves a ceremony in one capital and a dinner in the other.