STUTTGART - Porsche declined to comment on Tuesday on rumors that the carmaker could receive a 3-4 billion euro ($4.09-5.45 billion) investment from an unnamed Kuwaiti investor.

A company spokesman had said earlier the carmaker was conducting promising talks with a potential investor.

According to a person familiar with the matter, these talks reached into the Middle East.

Porsche is struggling to seal its merger with Volkswagen and take care of a 9 billion euro debt pile and bankers have told Reuters that its ratings are on hold as it is looking to secure a 2.5 billion euro loan.

At 9:36 a.m. EDT, shares in Porsche were 2 percent higher at 42.14 euros per share, having given up some of the session's earlier gains after trading as high as 43.99 euros.

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Tyler Sitte in Frankfurt and Sitaraman Shankar in London)

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