Renault may cut stake in Nissan below 40%
Nissan Motor Co Ltd [TYO:7201] and Renault SA [EPA:RNO] are now in talks to change the capital structure between the two companies, and are considering an option to cut Renault's present 43.4% stake in Nissan Motor to less than 40%, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
In exchange for the stake cutdown, the two companies are considering giving Renault voting rights to the 15% stake in Renault held by Nissan Motor, the Japanese newspaper reported on its website, without citing sources.
The capital structure review is aiming at lessen the involvement of the French government in Renault and its indirect influence over Nissan Motor via Renault's shareholding of the Japanese automaker, the newspaper report said.
Under the current French corporate act, company A, which holds a stake of 40% or more in company B, is not allowed to have voting rights for its shareholding of the company B, according to the Nihon Keizai report.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun