Porsche overtakes Volkswagen as Europe's most valuable carmaker

Berlin Porsche took pole position as Europe's most valuable automaker on Thursday, overtaking former parent Volkswagen (VLKAF) as the price of the sportscar maker's newly-listed shares sped higher.

Although Porsche shares fell below their listing price on Monday to 81 euros, in line with a wider fall in markets, they had risen to 93 euros ($91.95) on Thursday morning, giving the sportscar brand a market valuation of 85 billion euros ($84 billion).

The rise pushes Porsche's valuation beyond Volkswagen's 77.7 billion euros ($76.6 billion). Mercedes-Benz comes in third among European carmakers, followed by BMW (BMWYY) and Stellantis.

Porsche's share price regained momentum after investment banks involved in its flotation purchased almost 3.8 million shares for 312.8 million euros ($308 million) as part of the so-called greenshoe option, designed to support the listing.

"Inflation data from Europe and the United States, recent worries over energy supply in Europe and the escalation of the war in Ukraine last Thursday led to fluctuations which made small-scale stabilization measures necessary," a spokesperson for Volkswagen said.

The shares purchased between Sept 29. and Oct 4. represented around 11% of the total trading volume since the listing, the spokesperson added, consisting of around 34 million shares.

Overall, up to 14.85 million shares worth 1.2 billion euros are available via the greenshoe option in the four weeks after the offering as a stabilization measure.

Bank of America acquired the shares for between 81 and 82.50 euros, compared to the original issue price of 82.50, it said in a statement on Wednesday.