Porsche Offered 45% Stake Of Bugatti Rimac By Rimac Group

Rimac Group, a Croatian sports car manufacturer, is interested in buying the stake held by Germany’s Porsche AG in their joint venture Bugatti Rimac, according to sources close to the American Bloomberg.

According to the sources, who requested anonymity because the information is not public, Rimac Group recently sent a preliminary offer for Porsche’s 45 percent stake in the company. According to Bloomberg, Bugatti Rimac is currently valued at just over 1 billion euros (about 1.1 billion dollars).

It is believed that Rimac could cooperate with other investors in this transaction.

Talks In The Early Stages

The talks are still in the early stages, and it is not certain whether they will result in a sale, the same sources point out. Rimac Group did not comment on the allegations.

Porsche said the company regularly reviews its investment portfolio and works closely with business partners and co-investors. However, it did not want to comment on a potential offer from Rimac. Porsche is currently in the process of redefining its strategy, has reduced its electrification goals, and plans to invest 800 million euros in the development of new models with fossil-fuel engines.

As a reminder, Bugatti Rimac was founded in 2021 as a joint project of the Rimac Group and Porsche. In 2022, the Rimac Group raised €500 million in investment, with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Both Porsche and Investindustrial participated in that investment round, with Mate Rimac remaining the largest shareholder.

Bloomberg writes that Porsche, according to some sources, once considered the possibility of buying out Rimec’s stake in the joint venture. However, after recent personnel changes and challenges in the market, the German company probably has other priorities. Bloomberg further writes in its analysis that “it may seem that Porsche, as a luxury brand seeking greater influence and growth in stock market value, would want to keep Bugatti in its portfolio, but the reality is more complex.” Porsche is currently going through a turbulent period – profitability is falling, sales in China are weakening, and the electric strategy is not yielding the expected results. In addition to all this, Trump has imposed a 25 percent tariff on car imports to the US, which further burdens the prospects of the German brand.

• Also See: Porsche Ponders Acquiring A Majority Stake At Bugatti Rimac