Woah, Porsche just made €1bn from selling off its stake in Bugatti

Well, that’s official then: the Rimac Group and a consortium of money have completed their takeover of Bugatti after Porsche agreed to sell off its stake in the speedy French carmaker earlier this year.

It now means the Volkswagen Group – of which Porsche is a part – no longer has any stake in the manufacturer it brought back from the dead and quite literally propelled to worldwide fame. *Cough* 300mph *cough*.

The boring financial details are such: Porsche and Rimac set up a joint venture in 2021, Porsche holding a 45 per cent stake, Rimac the rest. Porsche also held 21 per cent in the Rimac Group itself, you’ll remember. (Lots of tech sharing back then.)

Under this new deal, a consortium led by HOF Capital – with BlueFive Capital as the largest investor “and other institutional investors from the US and Europe” – bought Porsche’s stake in the Bugatti Rimac JV, and Porsche’s stake in the Rimac Group.

That’s the money bit out the way. The human bit means Bugatti president Christophe Piochon – who’s been at the carmaker for over two decades – will now step down, replaced by Mate Rimac himself. So he’ll be the boss and the president. Fairly big business cards incoming.

More changes will follow, but there’s lots happening in Molsheim, not least the small matter of something called the ‘Tourbillon’, along with a new facility to build it in.

Porsche meanwhile will pocket around €1,000,000,000 from the sale, which will no doubt be very welcome considering its profits absolutely tanked in 2025. Around €250m of that €1bn will be spent on pension obligations. Spend the rest on a new sports car please, Mr Leiters.

Top Gear's foolproof three-point plan to save Porsche

“Porsche has been a very valuable partner for all these years,” said Rimac, “enabling us to build strong foundations for the future of the brand.”

What do you think the future holds for both these brands?