According to a Reuter’s story citing a source familiar with the situation, Nissan is pressuring French partner Renault to reduce its ownership in the Japanese manufacturer as far as possible, ideally to 15%, and may consider raising money to buy back the shares.
The requests, according to the source who requested anonymity since the negotiations were private, were made in exchange for Nissan’s agreement to contribute to Renault’s new business, which would house its electric vehicle (EV) assets.
According to the source, Renault owns around 43% of Nissan and wants to reduce its holding to 15% in order to be on par with Nissan’s ownership percentage in the alliance partner.
According to the source, the stake sale would not have an impact on their commercial partnership, albeit Nissan might need to raise money to pay Renault for the shares. Representatives from the two firms’ respective spokespeople declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the talks to reduce Nissan’s investment, and according to sources familiar with the negotiations, Bloomberg claimed that Renault was willing to do the same.
In an effort to catch up to competitors like Tesla and Volkswagen in the fight for cleaner driving, Renault is moving forward with plans to separate its electric vehicle (EV) and internal combustion engine (ICE) operations.
It anticipates announcing a comprehensive design for the new EV entity at a capital markets day this fall.
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