Porsche SE says it is not considering sale of Volkswagen shares

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Porsche SE, Volkswagen's biggest shareholder, is not considering selling voting shares in Europe's largest carmaker, the holding firm said on Sunday following a newspaper report that it was weighing such a move.

German tabloid Bild, citing people familiar with the matter, said the Porsche and Piech families that jointly control Porsche SE were considering divesting shares in Volkswagen to free up capital for other investments.

Bild's report said possible scenarios include reducing the stake in Volkswagen's ordinary shares to 45%-50%, from 53.3% at present. According to Reuters calculations, that would raise 1.07 billion to 2.69 billion euros ($1.16 billion-$2.93 billion) at current prices.

"At Porsche SE there are currently no concrete considerations, nor were there in the course of 2024, to divest VW shares," the holding firm said in a statement, adding that any plans to sell VW shares would have to be reported in its accounts.

"There have also been no discussions with investors regarding the sale of VW shares. Porsche SE is committed to its role as a long-term anchor shareholder of Volkswagen AG and is convinced of the Volkswagen Group's potential for increasing value."

Volkswagen declined to comment.

Porsche SE owns 31.9% of Volkswagen's equity and 53.3% of its voting rights, and holds a blocking minority in the untraded voting shares in Porsche AG, the luxury sportscar maker that was listed in 2022.

Volkswagen and Porsche form Porsche SE's so-called core investments, and the holding firm last year said that in the long-term it would not rule out "a possible reallocation" between the two as well as its smaller portfolio investments.

Porsche SE earlier this month disclosed substantial impairments on its two biggest holdings, 19.9 billion euros on Volkswagen and 3.4 billion euros on Porsche AG.

($1 = 0.9192 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Helen Popper)