According to persons with knowledge of the situation, Nissan and Renault will announce their restructured alliance soon and have finalised the agreement, ending 10 months of occasionally contentious negotiations.
The automakers had intended to close the deal by the end of March after announcing a framework agreement in February. According to the plan, Nissan would acquire up to 15% of Renault's new electric vehicle division, Ampere, while Renault would decrease its 43% ownership of Nissan.
The benefits and protections for Nissan's intellectual property, as well as some of the deal's specific stipulations, were disputed by senior Nissan officials and some directors, according to Reuters.
The holdup demonstrates how the most recent conflict at the top of the Japanese manufacturer has hindered efforts to level the decades-long partnership with Renault. Nissan executives tried to rebalance the alliance that former Chairman Carlos Ghosn created after his dismissal threw the carmaker into upheaval.
According to two of the people, Nissan has been seeking to establish a lower cutoff point for its committed strategic investment in Renault's Ampere electric vehicle division, below the 15% maximum aim it declared in February. Nissan is expected to acquire less than 10% of the new unit, according to one of them, although the size of its stake still depends on Ampere's worth.
According to three persons with knowledge of the situation, the announcement is anticipated in the next few days. Due to the information's confidentiality, each individual objected to having their names disclosed.
"Nissan and Renault are engaged in constructive and ongoing negotiations. We will make a statement in due course when the agreements are concluded," the Japanese automaker said in a statement.
Renault chose not to respond. According to the French manufacturer, Ampere will be listed in an IPO in the first half of 2024. According to sources, the asset might be worth up to 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion).
Given the significant investment necessary for the next generation of connected vehicles, Renault aims to entice additional investors to Ampere. Mitsubishi Motors, the junior partner of Nissan and Renault, has also expressed interest in making an investment in the business. American chipmaker Qualcomm has already committed to investing.
However, the potential for more partners has made it even more important for Nissan to safeguard its intellectual property in any future partnerships, according to Reuters.
One of the participants indicated that discussions have been centred on how to handle potential future IP, such as technologies that may not yet exist. A spokesman for Mitsubishi stated that nothing had been finalised and the company was still considering investing in Ampere.
While this was going on, Reuters reported that Nissan's board was looking into a claim that Chief Executive Makoto Uchida had been spying on his then-deputy Ashwani Gupta in an effort to get him fired for opposing some of the terms of the new partnership with Renault.
Gupta, who had served as COO and was viewed as a potential candidate to lead Nissan, left the company at the end of June.
(Source:www.usnews.com)
The automakers had intended to close the deal by the end of March after announcing a framework agreement in February. According to the plan, Nissan would acquire up to 15% of Renault's new electric vehicle division, Ampere, while Renault would decrease its 43% ownership of Nissan.
The benefits and protections for Nissan's intellectual property, as well as some of the deal's specific stipulations, were disputed by senior Nissan officials and some directors, according to Reuters.
The holdup demonstrates how the most recent conflict at the top of the Japanese manufacturer has hindered efforts to level the decades-long partnership with Renault. Nissan executives tried to rebalance the alliance that former Chairman Carlos Ghosn created after his dismissal threw the carmaker into upheaval.
According to two of the people, Nissan has been seeking to establish a lower cutoff point for its committed strategic investment in Renault's Ampere electric vehicle division, below the 15% maximum aim it declared in February. Nissan is expected to acquire less than 10% of the new unit, according to one of them, although the size of its stake still depends on Ampere's worth.
According to three persons with knowledge of the situation, the announcement is anticipated in the next few days. Due to the information's confidentiality, each individual objected to having their names disclosed.
"Nissan and Renault are engaged in constructive and ongoing negotiations. We will make a statement in due course when the agreements are concluded," the Japanese automaker said in a statement.
Renault chose not to respond. According to the French manufacturer, Ampere will be listed in an IPO in the first half of 2024. According to sources, the asset might be worth up to 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion).
Given the significant investment necessary for the next generation of connected vehicles, Renault aims to entice additional investors to Ampere. Mitsubishi Motors, the junior partner of Nissan and Renault, has also expressed interest in making an investment in the business. American chipmaker Qualcomm has already committed to investing.
However, the potential for more partners has made it even more important for Nissan to safeguard its intellectual property in any future partnerships, according to Reuters.
One of the participants indicated that discussions have been centred on how to handle potential future IP, such as technologies that may not yet exist. A spokesman for Mitsubishi stated that nothing had been finalised and the company was still considering investing in Ampere.
While this was going on, Reuters reported that Nissan's board was looking into a claim that Chief Executive Makoto Uchida had been spying on his then-deputy Ashwani Gupta in an effort to get him fired for opposing some of the terms of the new partnership with Renault.
Gupta, who had served as COO and was viewed as a potential candidate to lead Nissan, left the company at the end of June.
(Source:www.usnews.com)