It's official, Porsche has submitted an offer to buy the Volkswagen group. Unless you've been living in a cave, you probably already know that the erstwhile sportscar manufacturer is more profitable than the megalithic auto consortium, with all its subsidiaries, and has been steadily increasing its stake in VW.

When Porsche raised its stake in Volkswagen past 30%, German law mandated that it submit an offer to Volkswagen shareholders to buy them out and take over the automotive conglomerate outright. The mandatory offer has now been officially submitted, and subsequently approved by the German Federal Agency for Financial Services Supervision.

Porsche is offering ?100.92 per common share, and ?65.54 for preferred shares, coming in at the bare minimum required by law. Volkswagen shareholders have until May 29 to accept or refuse the offer. If they accept, Porsche will have full control of Volkswagen and all its subsidiaries, including the Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley brands, turning what was once the niche sportscar maker into one of the largest automobile makers in the world. It's unlikely that the VW board will accept, however, considering Porsche made the bare min bid.

Related posts:

• Porsche takes a $47b loan out to bid for VW
• Porsche, yet again, raising stake in VW

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Porsche]

PRESS RELEASE:

Porsche submits mandatory offer for Volkswagen shares

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, Germany, submitted its mandatory offer to acquire shares of Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, Germany, on this Monday after the offer documentation was officially approved by the Federal Agency for Financial Services Supervision (BaFin) for publication. The acceptance period is limited to approximately four weeks and ends on May 29, 2007. The price offered to the Volkswagen shareholders amounts to €100.92 per common share and €65.54 per preferred share, which represents the minimum price required by law. Porsche does not consider a premium on the minimum price to be appropriate, as the price of Volkswagen shares has risen significantly since the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer took an interest in the company. The mandatory offer, which is not conditional upon attainment of a minimum acceptance level, can be found on and downloaded from the Porsche website at www.porsche.com/germany/aboutporsche/investorrelations/.