Porsche Buys 10 Percent of VW

Porsche, the German maker of luxury sports cars, said Thursday it has amassed a stake of more than 10 percent in Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker. Porsche said in a statement that it acquired 32.9 million ordinary shares in VW -- equivalent to a stake of 10.26 percent -- on Wednesday. Porsche had said Sunday that it intends to buy around 20 percent of VW's share capital to help guard it against possible foreign predators. A stake of 20 percent would make it VW's largest shareholder, followed by the regional state authorities of Lower Saxony with a stake of 18.2 percent. Porsche also said it wants seats on VW's supervisory board in proportion to its shareholding, but did not specify how many seats it hoped to hold. Press reports have suggested Porsche wants three seats on the board, compared with two for Lower Saxony. Porsche reiterated that it plans to finance the deal from its own funds rather than increasing its debt.