Bundesliga soccer club VfB Stuttgart can apparently be happy about the multi-million dollar entry of another investor from the automotive sector. Because in addition to Mercedes, Porsche should now also support the Swabian club financially.
As “Bild” reports, VfB Stuttgart has landed an investor deal with Porsche. In recent months, secret negotiations with the car manufacturer from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen are said to have taken place in the background, which have now been successfully concluded.
According to the report, after the VfB supervisory board unanimously voted last week for Porsche’s entry, the new partnership is to be officially announced shortly.
Porsche is already the second major investor in the Bundesliga soccer club. The Mercedes-Benz Group (formerly Daimler AG) has been on board for six years and holds 11.75 percent of the shares in VfB Stuttgart AG, which was founded in 2017.
At that time, Mercedes paid 41.5 million euros for the shares. In similar spheres, Porsche is now said to be involved in the professional football division.
According to “Bild”, Porsche also wants to get involved in sponsorship with its subsidiary MHP, an IT consulting company that is also based in Baden-Württemberg. The total package of the mega deal is said to be around 100 million euros.
Mercedes made it possible for Porsche to join VfB Stuttgart
The fact that Porsche and Mercedes, of all companies, are two competing companies working together in one club apparently has local patriotic reasons.
This should help the clammy VfB Stuttgart, who only managed to stay up in the relegation last season, by two global companies from the region. That’s why, as “Bild” learned from the car industry, Mercedes made it possible for the competition to get in.
Because: At the beginning of July, Mercedes is ending its commitment as jersey sponsor of VfB. Ten million euros that previously flowed into VfB’s account for advertising on the chest and sleeves can be compensated in this way.
New marketer Sportfive, hired earlier this year, is now set to find new shirt sponsorship partners.