Three more bidders are interested in taking a stake in German sports carmaker Porsche, rivalling investment plans by Qatar, German magazine Focus reported yesterday. In an advance release of remarks due to be published tomorrow, Focus said without citing sources that a Chinese and a Russian sovereign wealth fund as well as a hedge fund were interested. A Porsche spokesman declined to comment on the report. Porsche, which owns 51 percent in Volkswagen, is seeking an outside investor after amassing ¤9bn in debt during a bungled attempt to dominate VW. Earlier this week, Porsche said that Qatar had made an offer to the controlling Porsche and Piech families that could help reduce the mountain of debt at their wholly owned automotive holding Porsche. Sources said on Friday that the owners were set to discuss an investment by Qatar in the next two weeks and a decision may come even before Volkswagen’s supervisory board meeting on July 15. A successful investment from Qatar could strengthen Porsche Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking’s negotiating hand as he tries to strike a deal with VW. Without it Porsche will struggle to prop up its finances and may have little choice but to yield to a reverse takeover from VW, Europe’s biggest carmaker. German magazine Spiegel reported Porsche CEO Wiedeking had warned the owner families of selling Porsche AG to VW. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=July2009&file=Local_News2009070512234.xml

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