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Porsche takes majority stake in Varta’s battery production

German battery maker Varta AG said on Saturday it had reached a restructuring agreement with its creditors, bringing on sports car maker Porsche as a majority stakeholder in the company’s car battery subsidiary V4Drive Battery GmbH.

The agreement will reduce Varta’s debt from EUR 485 million ($535 million) to EUR 200 million.

“With the implementation of the measures agreed today, the group’s financing and liquidity are now sustainably stabilised and secured for the long term,” Varta CFO Marc Hundsdorf said.

Varta initiated a comprehensive restructuring concept in spring 2023, which among other measures, involved a termination of 800 full-time positions. Last month, the company notified the competent local court in Stuttgart of its restructuring plans in accordance with the German Corporate Stabilization and Restructuring Act (StaRUG) in a bid to avert possible insolvency. 

Under the plan announced on Saturday, Porsche and current majority owner Michael Tojner are set to each hold around 32% of the company after participating in a EUR 60 million capital increase. Existing lenders will hold the remaining 36% of the company.

The completion of the majority takeover of V4Drive, which focuses on large-format lithium-ion round cells used in the performance hybrid drive of the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, is subject to antitrust approvals in various countries and the successful implementation of the financial restructuring of Varta AG.

“With the planned majority takeover of V4Drive, we aim to drive the company forward and would make an important contribution to keeping key technologies in Germany”, said Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche AG.

The construction of a further production facility for booster cells in Nördlingen, which was decided in spring 2024 and advanced by Porsche, will continue as planned, the car maker said. The facility is scheduled to go into operation next year.

It is planned that V4Drive will also address further customers beyond of Porsche, the German car maker said in a press release on Saturday.


 

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