Report: Renault Readies New Nissan Merge Plan

Renault SA is preparing a proposal that would merge the company with Nissan Motor Co. through a holding company, sources tell The Nikkei.

The scheme would give the two companies equal stakes in the holding company and equal representation on its board. France’s current 15% equity in Renault would become a 7% stake in the holding company.

Nissan would retain its 34% controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which joined the 20-year-old Renault-Nissan Alliance in 2017.

For the sake of neutrality, the new holding company would be headquartered somewhere others than Japan or Europe, according to The Nikkei. It says Renault has suggested Singapore as a possible location.

Renault has been eager for more than a year to make the alliance “irreversible.” But Nissan is likely to reject the merge plan, The Nikkei says. It notes that the Japanese carmaker has been deeply wary of the lopsided control exercised by Renault and the French government under the present structure.