Porsche is acquiring a majority stake in Greyp, a Croatian electric-bike maker linked to its affiliate Rimac Automobili, to expand mobility offerings beyond sports cars like the 911 or the battery-powered Taycan.
Porsche’s venture capital arm already held a stake of about 10% in Greyp and the automaker now exercised an option to boost its holding following a takeover offer from a third-party investor, the German manufacturer said in a statement.
Porsche “is consistently driving forward its e-mobility strategy,” Chief Financial Officer Lutz Meschke said in the statement. “Our activities in the e-bike sector underline our consistent approach,” he said.
Porsche introduced two electric bikes in March and seeks to adopt the expertise it gained in building battery-powered cars for luxury two-wheelers as well. Volkswagen AG’s most profitable brand earmarked 15 billion euros ($16.9 billion) in investments for new technology over the next five years, with 6.5 billion euros alone for the development of partly and fully battery-powered vehicles.
Mate Rimac, who founded and runs electric supercar maker Rimac, and other Greyp founders will retain a minority stake in the electric-bike firm. The takeover is expected to be finalized at the end of the year.
