Porsche touts successful IPO, sending company value above Mercedes-Benz

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Porsche stock moved higher Thursday on the first day of its initial public offering stock trading -- Germany's largest IPO in more than 25 years. The sports car maker's parent company Volkswagen offered 911 million outstanding shares, referencing Porsche's most iconic model.

Share prices steadied atnearly $82 Thursday morning, providing a market cap of roughly $73 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Porsche's public stock offering transformed the company into the top five biggest automakers, ahead of Mercedes-Benz.

Volkswagen AG announced the IPO earlier this month, with Porsche AG divided into 50% preference shares and 50% ordinary shares.

"Today is a great day for Porsche and a great day for Volkswagen," said Volkswagen's chief financial officer Arno Antlitz, on CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Thursday.

Antlitz said strong financials indicated the Porsche IPO would be successful. VW raised roughly $18 billion from the IPO.

In a statement Thursday, Porsche AG said it had "successfully crossed the finish line of its initial public offering."

The statement said Porsche is "entering a new era with increased entrepreneurial flexibility" with the IPO.

According to Marketwatch, VW plans to distribute 49% of the IPO proceeds in a special dividend which will be put to a shareholder vote in December.