The governor of the German state of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, Thursday said Qatar Investment Authority will take a 17 percent stake in Volkswagen AG. He added that the supervisory board of Europe's largest carmaker will make a decision about forming an integrated car manufacturing company with Porsche Automobil Holding SE at a meeting on Aug. 13. Wulff said the full combination of Volkswagen and Porsche is expected to be completed in mid-2011. Volkswagen AG agreed to combine with Porsche SE after the departure of the sports-car maker's Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking capped a 4-year-long feud for control of the two German manufacturers. An integration of Volkswagen with the 911 sports car maker will benefit both automakers in the global market, VW Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said in Stuttgart, Germany. A Qatar fund will acquire 17 percent of VW, becoming the third-largest investor in the Wolfsburg-based company. Volkswagen and Porsche, which said on May 6 that they were in talks to merge, were at loggerheads about ways to cut Porsche's 10 billion euros ($12.8 billion) of debt. Wiedeking agreed today to step down after 16 years as CEO. Porsche, controlled by the Piech and Porsche families, owns about 51 percent in VW, Europe's No. 1 carmaker, while the German state of Lower Saxony is the second-largest shareholder with a 20 percent stake. Lower Saxony owns a 20.1 percent stake in Volkswagen, making it its second largest shareholder behind Porsche, which owns around 51 percent of Volkswagen ordinary shares and has options to purchase a further stake of around 20 percent. Earlier Thursday, a person familiar with the negotiations said Qatar will acquire the stake in Volkswagen by acquiring share options held by Porsche. Volkswagen and Porsche have been locked in a power struggle since Porsche's attempt to gain full control over its much larger German peer backfired when credit markets turned anemic amid the financial crisis, leaving the sports car maker heavily indebted with around 10 billion euro in debt.
