BERLIN/HAMBURG -Volkswagen may still explore an initial public offering (IPO) of Porsche AG, its luxury brand. This would help fund the company’s costly transition to electric cars.

Speculation has swirled about a Porsche listing. This could set a new record for IPOs. However, no decision has been taken due to a complicated stakeholder setup, sources claimed. They also said that it wasn’t clear if a Porsche listing will happen.

Reports regarding a potential listing have suggested that the valuation for the Porsche AG standalone would be between 45 billion to 90 billion euros (101 billion).

Handelsblatt earlier reported that Porsche and Piech, Volkswagen SE’s biggest shareholder (DE:), are looking to sell a portion of their VW stake in order to finance a significant stake purchase in an IPO.

According to German newspapers, they could raise around 15 billion euros by selling enough shares.

Handelsblatt said that Volkswagen would be their largest shareholder, surpassing Lower Saxony’s 11.8% equity stake, and holding 20% of all voting rights.

Porsche SE described the report as “pure speculation” without providing further comments. Volkswagen refused to comment.

Volkswagen preference shares dropped significantly over the past weeks because of leadership disputes. They closed 8.6% higher at the top Germany benchmark.

Porsche SE shares closed 8.5% higher.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters in May that the families were prepared to take a direct stake in Porsche https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/porsche-piech-families-weigh-direct-stake-possible-porsche-ipo-sources-2021-05-31 AG should the luxury carmaker be separately listed.

A similar move could allow families to loosen their grips on Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen and would enable them to take ownership of Ferdinand Porsche’s brand of sports cars, which was founded back in 1931.

Herbert Diess, the Chief Executive of Volkswagen, was asked about potential Porsche listing in October. He said Volkswagen was always reviewing its portfolio and didn’t give any further comments.

Two sources close to the situation told Reuters that Diess would likely remain as VW CEO, but he will be stepping down after a dispute with labor leaders.

($1 = 0.8894 euros)