At late 2015 the very famous Italian car manufacturer, Ferrari, went public. It was not only enormous success for company, but also a great inspiration for competitors. Porsche was one of such competitors, who was inspired by Ferrari’s IPO and finally went public at the end of September. However, industry analysts believe that given the extremely negative market environment and the fact that inflation is at record highs, this is a risky moment for a stock market debut. At the same time, such high-end automakers like Aston Martin and Ferrari have seen their stock prices decline.

Why did Volkswagen as the owner of Porsche, decide to go public? The answer is simple – willingness to stay on track with new emerging technologies. The company aims to build out its software and start offering electric vehicles as it tries to compete with Tesla. Volkswagen wants to invest $50 billion in electrification over the next five years, and the proceeds from the IPO may contribute to that sum. Moreover, it is ambitious to deliver more than 80% of new battery-electric vehicles (BEV) by 2030. According to Porsche’s CEO Oliver Blume, the company wants to focus more on sustainability and social responsibility, which will come with redefining the modern luxury concept. To become more environmentally friendly, Porsche started to invest in e-fuels. Also, the network of charging stations with the Porsche logo started to spread across Europe. The last but not least step towards a net carbon-neutral value chain is switching the classic Porsche 718 roadster to electric power by 2025.

The first news about a possible Porsche IPO occurred last year when Porsche CEO Oliver Blume gave an interview to Bloomberg, expressing his willingness for an IPO. Later, Reuters referred to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, sharing insights about a possible Porsche IPO. The newspaper investigated the Porsche and Piech families, who were thinking of selling a part of their VW stake to raise money for a sizeable stake purchase in a potential Porsche IPO. Investors anticipated an estimated worth of between $60 billion and $85 billion.

At the beginning of September, Volkswagen announced its intention to go public at the end of the month. Porsche went public on 29th September at a $73 billion valuation on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and made the second largest listing after Deutsche Telekom's $13 billion IPO in 1996. In a symbolic move, Volkswagen issued 911 million shares (alluding to its most well-known non-electric auto model) with 455.5 million ordinary shares and the equivalent amount of preferred shares. According to Reuters, Volkswagen will give the Piech and Porsche families a blocking minority in the titular company by selling 25% plus one ordinary share in Porsche AG to Porsche SE, the holding company they both control. Additionally, the third-largest stakeholder of Volkswagen, Qatar, agreed to purchase 4.99%, allowing other investors to purchase the remaining 20.01% or 10% of Porsche's total stock. Other interested parties, such as the investment management firm T. Rawe Price and sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi and Norway, agreed to purchase preferred shares for €1.8 billion.

According to the latest news from Reuters, the initial IPO was priced at the top end of the offered range, €82.50 per share. On the third day of trading, Porsche shares price slightly dropped by 1.8% to 81 euros.