January 30 – Germany’s DFL has approved the acquisition of 10.41% of Bundelsiga side VfB Stuttgart by sports car manufacturer Porsche.
Porsche is acquiring an initial 5.49% of the shares with a second tranche to be acquired in June 2024.
German rules state that a Bundesliga club must be majority owned by the club and not a private investor. This is the so-called 50+1 rule that is designed to keep control of the football club by its association, rather than under the ownership of an investor or investment group.
The deal has waited for some time for approval by the DFL as Porsche owner, Volkswagen, owns a 100% stake in Bundesliga rivals Wolfsburg.
Porsche is hedquartered in Stuttgart and is already a sponsor of the club. Under the share deal Porsche will have two seats on the club’s Supervisory Board.
Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman and Executive Board Member for Finance and IT, said: “We are delighted that the Deutsche Fussball Liga has recognised our investment to be independent. This gives us the opportunity to increase our stake to more than 10 per cent. We want to contribute our know-how actively in order to keep developing the team successfully together with all our partners.We share a great tradition with VfB Stuttgart. Porsche is hereby strengthening its long-term commitment to the Stuttgart region, in which both of us have deep roots.”
Porsche became the team’s official youth academy partner under the ‘Turbo für Talente’ banner and is the main partner of the ‘Jungen Wilden’ and the VfB Football School. Porsche branding is on the sleeve of the team shirt and on the training kits of the VfB junior teams from U11 to U21.
From the start of the current season Porsche subsidiary MHP, has owned the naming rights for the MHP Arena Stuttgart.
“The renaming of the former Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium to the MHP Arena Stuttgart emotionalises our brand and supports our growth course,” says Ralf Hofmann, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Management Board of MHP.
Alexander Wehrle, Chairman of the Executive Board of VfB Stuttgart: “Porsche coming on board is a historic step that will ensure long-term stability and room to manoeuvre for us. We will use this to consolidate the future of VfB and continue to develop.”
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