Negotiations are “accelerating” between Renault and Nissan around the restructuring of their alliance with the planned refocus on the electrics of the French manufacturer, but there are still many points to be resolved, according to a source familiar with the matter questioned this Monday, October 10 . by AFP.
Nissan, future second largest shareholder of Ampère?
Several media reported this weekend that Renault could reduce its stake in Nissan to 15% from the current 43%. In exchange, the Japanese manufacturer, which currently owns 15% of Renault, would invest in “Ampère”, the future electrical entity of its French partner.
“Nissan will invest in Ampère, that’s for sure” and will become its “second largest shareholder” after Renault, a source familiar with the matter in Japan confirmed to AFP.
But it is still too early to quantify this investment, as is the drop in Renault’s stake in Nissan, the same source said.
This partial separation of Renault from Nissan should have a “deferred execution” and be carried out in stages to avoid massive depreciation for the French manufacturer. Because currently the value of Nissan’s shares is “well below its value recorded in Renault’s accounts.”
“Very technical” discussions on Horse
In addition, Nissan “will not invest” in “Horse”, the thermal pole of Renault that would keep only 35% and would sell the rest to the Chinese manufacturer Geely and the Saudi oil group Aramco, according to the same source.
But “Horse” is the subject of “very technical” discussions between Renault and Nissan, because many innovations in this area have been jointly developed by the two groups and the Japanese manufacturer wants to “take a fair return on its intellectual property.”
Mitsubishi’s place in the new Alliance to be clarified
The rebalancing of the Alliance also necessarily implies a reform of its governance, and the place of its third member, Mitsubishi Motors, also remains to be clarified.
The new Alliance projects, related to geographic areas and specific market segments, should also be added, according to the source interviewed by AFP.
All of these issues are closely related and therefore need to be addressed together. Negotiations between Renault and Nissan, which have been going on for months, “have accelerated since the end of August” and are expected to intensify further in November.
Renault, whose CEO Luca de Meo is currently in Japan, will present an “update” on its strategy in Paris on November 8 during a much-anticipated “Capital Markets Day.” But the concrete consequences for the Alliance should be announced later by the three manufacturers, not before “mid-November”, according to the same source.
Like Renault the day before, Nissan declined to immediately comment on this information on Monday.
Source: BFM TV
