The Renault Group will significantly reduce its stake in Nissan as part of a historic reshaping of the two firms’ Alliance.
Key to the new terms of the Alliance is equity of control over the other firm: each will retain a 15% shareholding in the other, with voting rights capped in kind.
Renault, which holds a 43% stake in Nissan, will transfer 28.4% of those shares to a French trust with “neutralised” voting rights on most decisions. However, Renault will retain the economic rights – for example its share of dividends – attached to that 28.4%.
The French company will instruct the trust to sell those shares if “commercially reasonable”; “in a coordinated and orderly process,” but is not obligated to do so within any set period of time.
In turn, Nissan will invest in Ampere, the Renault Group’s electric vehicle division established in November 2022.
By 2030, the new arm will have a lineup of six electric vehicles on sale, including the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric, a new Renault 4 and Renault 5, plus the Renault Scenic Electric.
Citing a source said to be familiar with the matter, Bloomberg previously reported that Nissan’s investment in Ampere will range from $500 million to $750 million (£450m-£680m).
Renault and Nissan will continue to use the Alliance Operating Board as its coordinating forum.
Both companies will also establish several new value-creation projects in markets, vehicles and technologies in Europe, Latin America and India.
The agreements are yet to be finalised and are still subject to the approval of each firm’s board.
Should they be approved, they will end months of crunch talks originally reported by the Financial Times to have been sparked by an intellectual property dispute. This concerned the formation of Horse, a joint venture between Renault and Chinese firm Geely to develop combustion engines; resisted by Nissan in a bid to protect its IP.