Negotiations are far from over between Renault and Nissan. The Japanese partner approved on Tuesday night the main lines of the Alliance’s restructuring, which will be formalized in early February a priori on the 2nd. First, the rebalancing of its cross-shareholdings, each of which will have 15% of the capital of the other But also the associations in thermal and electric vehicles of Renault housed in two separate subsidiaries, Horse and Ampère.
What participation in Ampere
Except the latter doesn’t exist yet. Renault will create “Ampère” in the second quarter and list it on the stock market by the end of the year. By then, the manufacturer will have to reach a final agreement with Nissan about its participation in the project. They have already agreed to share technologies for electric vehicles. The Japanese will notably bring their technology in software.
But they have yet to agree on what Nissan should invest in Ampere. “Discussions are ongoing and converging,” promises someone close to Renault. The head of the French group, Luca De Meo, hopes to value his subsidiary at 10 billion euros, a level that his Japanese partner considers too high. A few months ago, he wanted Nissan to invest around 1.5 billion euros for 15% of Ampère’s capital.
According to another source, Nissan is strapped for cash and is mostly looking to limit its investment in Ampère. He could thus accept the price estimated by Renault but signing a check lower than expected, between 700 and 900 million euros. In the end, his stake in Ampère should be closer to 10%.
Qualcomm, new partner in Ampere
Because before agreeing with Nissan, Renault will try to reach an agreement with Qualcomm, its new partner in Ampère. The American group will provide the digital architecture for electric vehicles, but it should also become a shareholder. At the moment, the discussions are not over, but Qualcomm could invest a few hundred million euros to take around 3 to 5% of Ampère, according to the valuation requested by Renault. The French manufacturer is also looking to attract other investors, even if the option of Google, the other big partner, is not foreseen.
Nissan should decide by the end of January how much it intends to invest in Ampère. An operational committee of the Alliance with Renault will be held in Yokohama on January 26.
Source: BFM TV
