Lead
Introduction
The alliance "marriage" entered a new era.
Author丨Maxifeng
Responsible editor丨 Yang Jing
Editor丨Zhu Jinbin
After four years of stalemate, Renault and Nissan finally decided to move forward with their 24-year alliance, and this unhappy "marriage" finally entered a new era, bringing hope but also more complex problems.
Nissan and Renault said in a joint statement released Jan. 30 that Nissan and Renault had agreed to divide their stakes equally, thus eliminating a source of conflict in the Franco-Japanese auto alliance.
The Renault-Nissan alliance announced a restructuring of its cross-shareholding and agreed on the percentage of Renault's reduction in Nissan Motor. Renault's stake in Nissan will be reduced to 15 percent from the current 43.4 percent, which is similar to Nissan's shareholding in Renault. The capital relationship between the two parties will be reciprocal.
For the extra 28.4 percent of Nissan's shares, Renault will be transferred to a French trust company for eventual sale, where Renault will have no voting rights. Renault will then direct the trustees to sell the shares in a coordinated manner, worth approximately $4.1 billion at current market capitalization, the statement added.
The two companies will then own 15 percent of each other's effective stake and 15 percent of the voting power, correcting an imbalance that has dissatisfied Nissan for years.
The alliance between Renault and Nissan dates back to 1999, when Renault saved Nissan with a capital injection, and the two companies formed one of the largest automotive partnerships in the industry.
Over the years, competition and mutual suspicion escalated, culminating when Carlos Ghosn, former chairman of Renault-Nissan, publicly considered merging the two companies, which directly led to his downfall. And in 2018 Carlos . After Ghosn's arrest in 2018, the imbalance also exacerbated tensions and hindered cooperation.
While this belated restructuring has the potential to bridge the gap between the two sides and pave the way for improved operations, financial conditions and stock market performance. But these are all foreshadowing, and the two sides almost broke down after months of intense negotiations at the end of last year.
The two companies even booked a London hotel in early December to announce the deal, but it was later canceled. The months-long delay, combined with Monday's announcement with many questions still unanswered, shows that restructuring will not be easy.
First, Renault's reduction in Nissan is not just to improve the relationship.
In exchange, Renault wants Nissan to invest in Ampere, its electric vehicle unit, which it plans to spin off by the end of the year. For now, the two groups only say Nissan is likely to become a strategic shareholder in the division. In fact, the friction and impasse between Renault and Nissan is partly due to the disagreement over Ampere's valuation.
In the European-dominated electric vehicle business, Nissan needs a global electric vehicle strategy and perspective, and Renault, an old partner, is indeed the first choice. But Nissan did invest in Ampere, according to Monday's statement, but did not give a specific amount, and the offer to negotiate a partnership suggests the deal may be only symbolic.
Another thorny issue that didn't come up in Monday's announcement is how the two companies will handle shared intellectual property. Nissan has been reluctant to sell anything outside the alliance, and this will be the biggest obstacle to Renault's electrification transition.
In order to smooth the transformation path, Renault announced plans to split its business last autumn, separating its businesses into Ampère and Horse, a gasoline engine manufacturing business.
Renault CEO Luca de Mayo has said he wants to spin off Ampere later this year through an initial public offering, but that could hinder Ampere's path to listing if no agreement is reached on shared intellectual property. On the other hand, Horse, Renault's spin-off car engine production business, will also have problems because the project involves transferring internal combustion engine assets to a joint venture with Geely.
So if this matter is not properly resolved, then Renault's spin-off plan last year will be postponed indefinitely.
But the restructuring sends a lot of positive messages, starting with the fact that Nissan and Renault have agreed to "re-promote partnerships through the creation of high-value operating projects" in Latin America, India and Europe. It's more like an effort to demonstrate that alliances can still generate valuable synergies at a challenging time for the industry as a whole, rather than just hindering decision-making and distracting management.
An analysis report pointed out that the adjusted capital structure should help maintain the vitality of the alliance, maintain synergies and open up strategic opportunities for both sides. Renault can now better allocate excess capital for growth and shareholders.
Nissan also benefits from fairer governance while continuing to enjoy economies of scale generated by the combined procurement or research budgets of the two companies.
Renault reduced its stake in Nissan to 15%, which could unlock a pre-tax gain of 4 billion euros, which could help Renault, which lagged behind in electrification, quickly transition to pure electric and make the alliance fairer. Nissan's investment in Renault's pure electric vehicle business will also be an important driving force for Renault's electrification transformation.
The reorganized Renault-Nissan alliance will be the beginning of equal cooperation, and there are still many clueless questions that have no answers to go on for mutual benefit, but this statement still shows the positive process brought by the two parties for months of insistence on communication, and it also means that Renault has finally begun to make efforts in the field of electrification, and Nissan is unlocking a new identity in the Renault electric vehicle business.
The old alliance will also face more challenges in the new era, and it can only be said that cooperation is not easy, and it can be cherished.
| Ma Xifeng |
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