Projo Cars Blog

FRANKFURT, Germany — Porsche set out to fail the last time it made a takeover for Volkswagen. That likely won't be the case if it tries again, according to USA Today.

The sports car company has an open road for another attempt, after the European Union's highest court struck down the nearly 50-year old "VW law" enacted to protect Europe's largest automaker from a hostile takeover.

Tuesday's ruling will reverberate across Europe, where many governments have attempted to protect companies they see as vital to their economies from being bought, particularly by foreign investors.

German politicians and labor unions had argued that the 47-year-old measure was needed to protect local jobs.

The EU Court of Justice, however, said the law — which capped a shareholder's voting rights at 20%, whatever the size of its holding — limited "the free movement of capital" that is a tenet of the European Union.

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