PARIS: Renault SA and its Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co. aim to announce a deal to reshape their two-decades-old alliance as soon as Dec 7 in London, according to people familiar with the situation.
Discussions with Nissan started earlier this year as Renault began work to carve out its electric-vehicle business, known as Ampere.
Nissan may invest US$500 million to US$750 million for a stake of about 15% in Ampere, but the agreement hinges on a wider deal that would see Renault lower its own 43% stake in Nissan to about 15% over time, Bloomberg News has reported.
Talks are ongoing and a non-binding agreement hasn’t been signed yet, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information.
There’s a chance plans could change or the negotiations could fall apart. Failure to sign a non-binding agreement by mid-December could mean the potential deal slipping into 2023, the people said.
Media representatives for Renault and Nissan declined to comment.
Executives at the two automakers and alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. are due to hold a previously scheduled alliance meeting on Dec 6, two of the people said.
If an agreement is reached, there may not be much time to give a heads-up about a subsequent event, so London is a preferred venue to be close to the financial community, according to one person.
The alliance was struggling even before the 2018 toppling of Carlos Ghosn, who at the time was its chairman. The globetrotting executive was widely seen as the glue that held the group together.
The need to reset the alliance comes as automakers such as Renault and Nissan are forced to reinvent their strategies to navigate a difficult and costly transition to electrification.
Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and chief executive officer Luca de Meo both expressed optimism about the ongoing talks in recent weeks, but they called the negotiations complex and warned about setting any deadlines.
