VW shares jump backed by ‘mystery’ buyer

BERLIN: Volkswagen stock surged more than 8pc Friday despite the massive global pollution cheating scandal engulfing the group, sparking speculation over a “mystery” buyer snapping up the shares.

Revelations that the German auto giant had fitted 11 million cars with devices aimed at cheating pollution tests have sent the stock plunging to half its value in two weeks, wiping out over 25bn euros of market value.

But VW shares staged a strong recovery on Friday, ending the week 8.35pc up at 125.90 euros.

Although several banks put a buy rating on the stock last week, Friday’s large movements sparked talk that a major investor was purchasing the stock in bulk. “It’s not insignificant,” a market source told AFP.

Daily Bild wrote of a “mysterious jump” and cited market rumours that the Porsche and Piech families — both major shareholders of Volkswagen group, were in the market to buy.

Pfizer completes acquisition

KARACHI: Pfizer Inc announced on Friday that it has completed the acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s quadrivalent meningococcal ACWY vaccines Nimenrix and Mencevax.

In a press statement, Pfizer Vaccines President and General Manager Susan Silbermann said: “The addition of Nimenrix and Mencevax help us to fulfill our vision to protect lives with innovative vaccines to fight serious diseases worldwide.”

“Meningococcal vaccination is mandatory for Haj pilgrims and Mencevax has been the vaccine of choice in Pakistan for that purpose,” said Asim Sarfraz, Business Unit Lead for Vaccines at Pfizer Pakistan.

Pfizer Inc completed the global acquisition on Oct 1, 2015.

Published in Dawn, October 10th , 2015

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