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AUTOMOBILE-MERGER-NISSAN-RENAULT
Nissan, Renault eye restructuring for Fiat merger: report
NEW YORK, Aug 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Nissan and Renault are considering
changes to their partnership in order to reinvigorate merger negotiations
with US-Italian automaker Fiat Chrysler, US media reported on Friday.
Negotiations for a tie-up between Renault and Fiat Chrysler (FCA)
collapsed in June, with Renault’s chairman blaming the French government for
blocking a vote on the deal that would have upended the global automotive
industry and created the world’s third-largest automaker.
The French government has denied the allegation, while Nissan has
characterized its relationship with Renault as unequal and said the
French automaker kept it in the dark over its merger plans with FCA.
Citing emails and sources close to the companies, The Wall Street Journal
reported that Nissan is now asking Renault to reduce its 43 percent stake in
the Japanese automaker.
Nissan controls 15 percent and has no voting rights in Renault, which is
also part-owned by the French government.
A rebalanced relationship would help ease some of the tensions between the
two automakers and relieve Nissan’s reluctance to back the merger with FCA,
the paper said.
A draft agreement on restructuring the relationship could come as early as
September, the Journal reported, citing an email from July.
Any agreement would need the green-light of the French state, which owns
15 percent of Renault.
That approval isn’t a given: French President Emmanuel Macron said in late
June that he wouldn’t consider any changes to the two companies’ structure.
That same month, Nissan shareholders approved an overhaul intended to
strengthen governance at the automaker after former boss Carlos Ghosn was
arrested on multiple financial misconduct charges.
Nissan declined to comment to AFP. Renault did not respond to a request
for comment.
BSS/AFP/HR/0920