The Bundeskartellamt has cleared plans by Porsche AG to acquire a non-controlling stake in Varta AG. It has also cleared plans by Porsche AG to acquire the majority of shares in and sole control of V4Drive Battery GmbH, Varta’s subsidiary for producing large-format lithium-ion cells for electric cars. Varta AG will continue to be a minority shareholder in V4Drive Battery GmbH.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Our examination under merger control only focused on whether the planned merger raises competition concerns. We have found that this is not the case. Merger projects can generally be notified for examination under merger control if they are sufficiently concrete. Whether the project can actually be implemented is now a question outside the scope of competition law.”

The merger project does not involve Porsche acquiring control of Varta; in particular, Porsche will have no veto rights over strategic business policy decisions. Through a subsidiary, the Michael Tojner group will remain a shareholder in Varta.

The investigations in the merger control proceeding have shown that the planned merger does not raise any competition concerns. The VW group – Porsche’s parent company – and Varta are active in different markets. The planned merger is also not expected to significantly affect competition in the supply chain, especially as Porsche has already been Varta’s main customer for lithium-ion battery cells in the automotive sector. In the future, V4Drive, in which Porsche intends to acquire a majority shareholding, is to also attract customers other than Porsche.