Porsche launches mandatory offer for VW's Audi

FRANKFURT, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) launched on Monday a mandatory offer for Volkswagen AG's (VOWG.DE) premium unit Audi AG (NSUG.DE), a move expected after Porsche's stake in VW gave it a de facto majority at general meetings.

Porsche said in a statement it had no intention of removing Audi from the Volkswagen group and was thus offering only the legal minimum price of 485.83 euros per Audi share. The offer is valid until Oct 27.

VW, which owns 99.14 percent of Audi, has already said it would not accept Porsche's offer.

This means Porsche's offer relates only to 0.86 percent or 370,000 Audi shares with a value of around 180 million euros.

Audi shares were untraded on Monday. The stock closed on Sept. 26 at 477.90 euros.

Porsche's voting stake in Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, reached 35.14 percent on Sept. 16, giving Porsche a de facto majority at VW's shareholders general meetings.

Porsche said it does not intend to acquire Audi shares outside the mandatory offer and has offered to sell to Volkswagen any shares tendered. (Reporting by Marilyn Gerlach; Editing by Quentin Bryar)