Volkswagen said to eye carve-out of Everllence, with interest from group's largest shareholder

Volkswagen Group reportedly has been shopping for some time for buyers into its Everllence division, the 267-year-old engine company, which began life as Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) in 1758. 

Chief executive Uwe Lauber spearheaded a rebrand of the marine engine, road transport and industrial energy manufacturer in June 2025, and at the time, said Everllence would remain under the Volkswagen Group umbrella of companies.

However, a recent report from the UK’s Financial Times cited insiders who said the investment vehicle for Volkswagen’s controlling shareholder, the Porsche-Piëch family, is among a group of private equity-based investors who have expressed an interest in buying into Everllence. The sources claimed that Everllence could be valued at between US$7.0-US$9.3Bn in such a transaction.

Volkswagen Group has been aiming to focus its operations and offload some of its ’non-core’ assets for years and has mentioned its Everllence division, formerly known as MAN Energy Solutions, openly as part of that discussion. In December 2024, the group announced a restructuring aimed at cost-cutting amid heavy competition in the car market from Chinese brands. And in the months that have followed, the company has been hit by another macroeconomic force in the form of tariffs emanating from the US.

According to its third-quarter financials, the tariffs cost the business the equivalent of around US$6.0Bn on a full-year basis.

"We recorded charges, primarily from increased tariffs and the adjustment of the product strategy at Porsche," Volkswagen Group chief financial officer and chief operating officer Arno Antlitz said.

"Excluding these charges, the Group’s operating margin is 5.4% – at first glance, a respectable figure in the current economic environment. But increased trading tariffs burden us by up to €5.0Bn (US$5.8Bn) on a full-year basis. Those effects will continue to persist – and that is why we must rigorously implement the performance programmes in place, push forward efficiency measures and develop new approaches. Our focus will be – among others – on the targeted use of our scale and exploiting synergies within the group even more effectively.”

Volkswagen had a reported positive net operating margin of 7.0% in 2024, but is expecting to achieve less than half that figure in 2025.

Investors and analysts have been calling for continued restructuring of the company, and a sale of some of Volkswagen’s divisions seems virtually guaranteed.

The insiders cited in the FT report claimed that Swedish private equity firm EQT is among a group of private equity investors, in addition to the Porshce-Piëch family’s Porsche SE fund, which have expressed preliminary interest in buying into Everllence.

Neither the company nor the funds cited in the report have publicly commented on the rumours of a sale of Everllence, with Volkswagen saying it is "currently reviewing strategic options for Everllence" and that it still "actively manages its portfolio of business areas that are not part of its core business" in addition to those areas that are part of the core business.