Rimac buys majority stake in Bugatti from Volkswagen

According to a media report, the Croatian electric car specialist Rimac wants to acquire a majority stake in VW subsidiary Bugatti. Rimac is to be floated on the stock market by 2022.

According to principal owner Mate Rimac, the stock market valuation of Rimac could be in the direction of five billion euros. Furthermore, according to the German publication Manager Magazin citing those close to the matter, the Bugatti deal is close to completion.

“The concrete future of Bugatti is a topic that will be decided within the Group,” a Porsche spokesperson told the German newspaper Handelsblatt. Corresponding rumours and a possible IPO were not commented upon. A Rimac spokesperson told the Handelsblatt that several options are currently being examined, and nothing has been decided yet.

Volkswagen is initially expected to transfer responsibility for Bugatti to Porsche, and Porsche would then form a joint venture with Rimac in which Rimac would acquire 55 per cent of Bugatti’s shares. In comparison, Porsche would control 45 per cent. However, Porsche’s stake in Rimac, which was increased to 24 per cent in March, is apparently to remain unaffected by the deal.

In mid-2018, Porsche first entered Rimac with a 10 per cent stake, and a little over a year later it increased its stake to 15.5 per cent. There have been rumours of a new increase for some time now. In September of last year, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Porsche planned to increase its stake in Rimac to 49 per cent and that Volkswagen’s Bugatti brand could be sold to the Croatian electric vehicle manufacturer in return. The newspaper referred to statements made by industry insider Georg Kacher.

It is now clear where Bugatti is headed. According to Manager Magazin, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart’s management and supervisory boards are in agreement, as is Mate Rimac. The lack of approval from the unions at Bugatti’s headquarters in Molsheim, France, would be a mere formality. The agreement is to be signed shortly.

manager-magazin.de (in German), carscoops.com