Acquisition closed
Volkswagen Group acquires Bentley (1998)
Volkswagen Group completed the acquisition of Bentley on 28 July 1998 for £430 million.[1]
Volkswagen bought Rolls-Royce Motors for about £430 million, acquiring the Crewe factory and the Bentley marque. BMW separately secured the Rolls-Royce name and badge from the aero-engine company, so the winner of the auction did not get the brand it had bid for.
The two companies agreed a handover under which Volkswagen built Rolls-Royce cars until the end of 2002.
Deal facts
- Announced
- Closed
- Value
- £430 million (enterprise value)
- Buyer
- Volkswagen Group
- Seller
- —
- Assets
- Bentley
- Regulatory review
- None recorded
Ownership changes recorded from this deal
| Owner | Owned | Relationship | Stake | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Group | Bentley | owns | 100% | 1998-07-28 | present |
Who owns Bentley today?
- Bentley — owned by Volkswagen Group since 1998
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] The History of Bentley — Volkswagen AG, Official document; retrieved 28 September 2026.
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