Porche accelerates towards VW control

FT 28 Oct 08

Aggressive share buying may have jeopardised(危険にさらす） co-operation
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Hedge funds were scrambling（奪い合う） to cover their short positions in Volkswagen yesterday after shares in Europe's largest carmaker more than doubled following Porsche's disclosure that it had increased its stake to almost 75 per cent.

These funds, which aim to profit from share declines by selling shares and buying them back in the market at a lower price, had been betting that the difference between VW's ordinary shares and its preferred shares would be narrow.
Preference shares pay a fixed rate of interest but do not carry voting rights, while ordinary shares do have voting rights.

Porsche said over the weekend that it had increased its stake from 42.6 to 74.1 per cent.