Volkswagen hopes to take Porsche public at $85B as “spin offerings” gain traction

Cayman, top down… Porsche is speeding toward an IPO despite a bumpy market. On Tuesday, Porsche parent Volkswagen said it plans to take the luxe-car brand public within weeks, in what could be Europe’s biggest IPO since 1999. VW could raise $10B in the listing, and plans to use the cash to boost EV production (think: electric Jettas).

• Big splash: At the high end of forecasts, Porsche could be worth $85B (almost equal to VW’s market cap). VW plans to keep a 75% stake in the biz.
• Fat margins: Pricey Porsche has long been a profit puppy for VW: last year it accounted for 3% of VW’s car sales but half of its pretax profits.
• “Supremium” surge: Luxury whips like Ferrari and Volkswagen’s Bentley are booming. New cars from brands like BMW and Tesla made up a record 17% of total US car sales in June.

IPOs take a back seat… as shaky markets scare off investors. So far this year there’ve been half as many IPOs as there were by the same time last year — and they’ve raised 70% less. But some have found success by going smaller, not bigger. In the past year:

• Splitting up: GE and Kellogg decided to split into smaller public companies to streamline operations and attract investors.
• Spinning off: Dell spun off VMware, and AT&T peeled off Warner Bros. Discovery. Back in 2015, Fiat spun off Ferrari — and Ferrari shares have nearly quadrupled.