Renault to reduce stake in Nissan, rebalancing alliance

(Source: Reuters)

After a nearly twenty four year long alliance French automaker Renault announced its decision to slash its stake in partner Nissan. The deal is aimed at rebalancing the alliance between the two companies, the Japanese firm Nissan said on 30th January.

Renault will reduce its stake from 43.4 percent to 15 percent, the same size as Nissan's stake in its French counterpart.Nissan would retain a 15 percent cross-shareholding.

Renault holds the larger stake at 43 percent and has voting rights, Nissan makes more cars while owning a 15 percent stake in the French carmaker with no voting rights according to a report by Bloomberg. The two partners have agreed that this rebalancing of stakes would address a power imbalance as the Japanese automaker lacks voting rights.

The Japanese automaker is also likely to invest in Renault's electric vehicle business named 'Ampere'. As of now the size of Nissan's probable stake in Ampere is unknown.

The alliance formed between Renault and Nissan was joined by Mitsubishi Motors in 2016, when Nissan took a 34 percent stake in its struggling Japanese rival. Mitsubishi Motors Corp also plans to move forward via collaborations on specific projects, including in India, South America and Europe, according to a statement.

In November 2022, Renault announced that it would split its operations in two -- its new venture Ampere, and a separate subsidiary for petrol, diesel and hybrid cars that will pair up with China's Geely.

The French maker of Megane E-Tech and Austral cars wants to deepen ties with partners such as China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Co. and chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.

After the deal, the French automaker will not immediately sell the outstanding 28.4 percent of its Nissan shares because the current market value is lower than that registered in Renault's accounts, instead, the shares will be placed in a trust for sale when prices improve a report by Bloomberg said.