Porsche seeks majority stake in Volkswagen: report

The logo of German carmaker Porsche is seen on the bonnet of a 911 type sportscar during the 35. AVD Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring circuit August 11, 2007. German sports car maker Porsche aims to raise its stake in German car maker Volkswagen (VW) to 51 percent, the German current affairs weekly Der Spiegel reported.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German sports car maker Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) aims to raise its stake in German car maker Volkswagen (VW) (VOWG.DE) to 51 percent, the German current affairs weekly Der Spiegel reported.

A Porsche spokesman said on Saturday that the company's board had made no decision about raising the stake above the current 31 percent.

Citing unidentified stock market sources, the magazine said Porsche was buying options entitling it to increase its VW stake by exercising them.

"Traders expect that Porsche will exceed the 50-percent limit at the start of next year," Der Spiegel said.

The Porsche spokesman referred to an earlier announcement by the company's Chief Financial Officer, Holger Haerter, that Porsche has acquired some options in order to be able to raise its VW stake further if needed.

VW's share price rose more than 14 percent last month -- outperforming a European car sector index .SXAP, which fell almost 3 percent -- fuelled partly by market speculation that Porsche might consolidate its control by buying the state of Lower Saxony's 20 percent VW stake.

At the time, both Lower Saxony and Porsche denied any such plans.