Reuters forces Porsche to confirm cap hike plans

Reuters was unmatched with an exclusive report on Porsche’s five billion euro capital hike on March 25 after market close in Europe. The story forced Porsche to confirm their plans nearly three hours after the Reuters snaps had hit the wire. Porsche admitted that originally they wanted to reveal on Sunday and not on Friday the cap hike plans, which resulted in a drop in its share price by up to 4.7 percent when markets reopened. Bankers involved in the deal were astonished by the details Reuters reporters had found out. US hedge funds, eg Perry Capital, rushed to their phones and called Frankfurt to get more information on the capital increase which is a crucial step to deleverage Porsche ahead of a merger with Volkswagen. The story was widely picked up in online media with Reuters credit, e.g. Handelsblatt Online and Spiegel Online.