Porsche Completes Exit From Bugatti And Rimac In €1 Billion Deal

Porsche AG has completed the sale of its stakes in Bugatti Rimac and Rimac Group, drawing the curtain on nearly three decades of Volkswagen Group involvement with the Bugatti marque. The transaction, finalised on September 9 after regulatory clearance, closes a deal first announced in April and hands control of the hypercar maker entirely to its founder, Mate Rimac.

Porsche sold its 45 per cent holding in the Bugatti Rimac joint venture and its 20.6 per cent stake in Rimac Group, the Croatian parent that also houses Rimac's battery and technology businesses. The buyer is a consortium led by New York-based HOF Capital, with Abu Dhabi's BlueFive Capital emerging as the largest single investor. Rimac Group retains its majority 55 per cent holding in Bugatti Rimac, while BlueFive has taken 30 per cent, with HOF Capital and other institutional investors accounting for the remainder. HOF Capital also becomes the largest external shareholder in Rimac Group.

The deal yields Porsche roughly €1 billion (about $1.16 billion), of which €250 million has been earmarked for pension obligations. Porsche said the proceeds would lift its automotive net cash flow margin forecast for the year to between 5.5 and 7.5 per cent, up from an earlier projection of 3 to 5 per cent.

Mate Rimac, who founded Rimac in 2009 and has led the Bugatti Rimac joint venture since its formation in 2021, becomes President of Bugatti Automobiles as part of the ownership transition. Christophe Piochon, who steered Bugatti through more than two decades under Volkswagen ownership, has stepped down. "Porsche has been a very valuable partner for all these years, enabling us to build strong foundations for the future of the brand," Rimac said, adding that he looked forward to working with HOF Capital on "the exciting future of Bugatti."

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Porsche's Chief Executive, Michael Leiters, framed the exit as part of a broader tightening of focus on the company's core sports car business, following a punishing year in which group operating profit fell more than 90 per cent, weighed down by weak China demand, US tariffs and slower-than-anticipated electric vehicle uptake.

The Bugatti Rimac venture was created to pair Bugatti's century-old hypercar heritage with Rimac's electric powertrain expertise, and continues to build the Tourbillon, priced at €3.8 million and reportedly sold out through its production run, alongside Rimac's own Nevera electric hypercar.

Neither Bugatti nor Rimac has a retail presence in India, where prohibitive import duties keep such hypercars largely out of reach. Porsche itself, however, continues to expand locally, having crossed 1,000 deliveries in the country for the first time in 2024.