Volkswagen Seen Buying Porsche Automaker to Salvage Merger: Cars

Volkswagen AG’s two-year effort to merge with Porsche SE is on the brink of being scrapped as legal tangles and taxes confound ambitions to unite Ferdinand Porsche’s legacy.

The supervisory board of Europe’s largest carmaker will consider alternatives to the 2009 merger agreement at a meeting on Nov. 18, the final scheduled gathering this year, two people with direct knowledge of the situation said. To avoid further delays in cooperation, VW may drop a merger and instead buy Porsche’s carmaking business, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are private.