Defined the main criteria in which the strategic alliance between the Renault and Nissan groups will change after the agreement between the French and the Chinese Geely. The new relationships will need to be approved by the respective boards of directors
A long list of conditionals. It is the first element to capture the visual attention in the joint press release released by Nissan and Renault on the morning of January 30, which outlines the architrave of the agreement that will redefine the relations of the Franco-Japanese alliance. But where a provisional state of the pact 2.0 also shines through. Several details still need to be defined. But the heart of the agreement is clear: the balance of power changes, ie the cross-shareholdings. An inevitable step after the entrance of the Chinese Geely in Renault. Necessary for Nissan to enter the “electric company”, i.e. Ampere, the entity that will enclose the battery-powered vehicle business.
Renault-Nissan alliance, the agreement in progress
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In summary, these are the main points of the agreement that will redefine the alliance between Nissan and Renault. The agreement is being finalized and will have to be approved by the boards of directors of both groups. Hence the conditionals. Renault and Nissan (again understood as groups and not individual brands) would retain a 15% cross-shareholding with similar voting rights. This is the rebalancing that the Japanese have long been asking for. In fact, since 1999, when the alliance was signed, Renault owns 43% of the shares of Nissan and the latter 15% of the former, but without voting rights. According to the new agreement, Renault would transfer the “excess” stock (equal to 28.4% of Nissan shares in its possession) to a French trust fund, in which voting rights would be neutralized but economic rights preserved. Renault would give the order to sell Nissan shares in an orderly and organized process if it deems the economic conditions reasonable. However, he would not be ordered to sell them within a predetermined time frame. As a result, Nissan would invest in Ampere to become a strategic shareholder. Finally, key projects will be relaunched, in collaboration between the two, in Europe, Latin America and India.