Frankfurt - Volkswagen briefly became the world's biggest company by market value on Tuesday, as short sellers caught betting on a price drop with borrowed stock scrambled to find shares after a buying spree by Porsche.
Short sellers desperate to close their positions paid as much as 1 005 euros a share during the session following Sunday's news that there was less than 6% of VW voting stock still floating in the market.
At that price Volkswagen's voting stock was worth 296 billion euros ($370 billion), or more than the $343 billion market capitalisation of Exxon Mobil.
VW shares later closed trading on Tuesday up 82% at 945 euros.
The share price has rocketed since Porsche revealed in a surprise announcement on Sunday that it had effectively gained control of 74% of Volkswagen's voting shares.
In March, when Porsche was still sitting on a long-held 31% direct stake, it said it was not seeking to increase its holding to 75%, bearing in mind that the state of Lower Saxony holds a 20% stake in VW.
"The speculation of going to 75% overlooks the realities of the shareholder structure of VW", Porsche said at the time.
"In view of the fact that Lower Saxony as second largest shareholder owns 20% of VW, the probability of acquiring the necessary shares in freefloat is extremely low."
http://www.wheels24.co.za/Content/News/Industry_News/6/2016a945a5b14ad28d01d68e32f5c5d8//VW_The_worlds_priciest_firm
Short sellers desperate to close their positions paid as much as 1 005 euros a share during the session following Sunday's news that there was less than 6% of VW voting stock still floating in the market.
At that price Volkswagen's voting stock was worth 296 billion euros ($370 billion), or more than the $343 billion market capitalisation of Exxon Mobil.
VW shares later closed trading on Tuesday up 82% at 945 euros.
The share price has rocketed since Porsche revealed in a surprise announcement on Sunday that it had effectively gained control of 74% of Volkswagen's voting shares.
In March, when Porsche was still sitting on a long-held 31% direct stake, it said it was not seeking to increase its holding to 75%, bearing in mind that the state of Lower Saxony holds a 20% stake in VW.
"The speculation of going to 75% overlooks the realities of the shareholder structure of VW", Porsche said at the time.
"In view of the fact that Lower Saxony as second largest shareholder owns 20% of VW, the probability of acquiring the necessary shares in freefloat is extremely low."
http://www.wheels24.co.za/Content/News/Industry_News/6/2016a945a5b14ad28d01d68e32f5c5d8//VW_The_worlds_priciest_firm
