The Economy Minister sent a letter to the CEO of Renault.
Confidence seems well underway between the two parties.
The tension continues to mount between the state and Renault. The Minister of Economy, Emmanuel Macron, wrote Tuesday to Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn to clarify his position of the State, while the two sides argue about the issue of double voting rights to which the government does not want to give up.
In this letter, released by Reuters and whose "Les Echos" were aware, Emmanuel Macron repeat that the state will sell the newly acquired shares after the general meeting on 30 April, to return to its previous 15%. It also denies any intention budget (thanks to double voting rights, the state could eventually resell theory part of its participation while maintaining the same level of influence).
The minister mentioned in passing that the state is a shareholder in Renault "70 years" and that it was alongside the manufacturer in difficult times. So the 2009 crisis when the government granted an emergency loan to Renault and PSA. Finally, Emmanuel Macron repeat that the balance of the alliance between Renault and Nissan is in no way a capital case.
"If Nissan does not have voting rights, it is for reasons beyond the State's participation level in Renault," insists does one side of Bercy. While Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan and the second holds 15% of the first, the two groups would be treasury position if the Japanese ally disposal of voting rights.
Other solutions have been proposed
Behind these arguments, we feel that trust is well underway between the two parties. Emmanuel Macron thus indicates that the government was open to other solutions that operations in recent weeks, suggesting that several signals have been sent to Carlos Ghosn - State representatives were from the start opposed the resolution number twelve providing for the abandonment of double voting rights - and that it would have chosen to ignore them. "The establishment of a statutory ceiling to limit the voting rights of the State would have been such a track," said a player folder.
Finally, if Bercy says it wants to avoid any escalation, Emmanuel Macron goes to explicitly request that his mail be sent to the Directors of Renault and Nissan. "Clearly, he wants to be sure that we understand its approach because it does not trust Carlos Ghosn," a court administrator.
While the intentions of the CEO are still unclear and may be potentially belligerent - Carlos Ghosn might decide to give back to Nissan voting rights via a capital increase of Japanese ally Renault equity decline - the state seeks educate each director to the game being played.
Thursday, Carlos Ghosn also turned up the heat by bringing together the Nissan board. No surprise given that it is primarily composed of operational managers of the Japanese manufacturer, it agreed with unanimity on the position of his counterpart at Renault, asking hence the State not to change the balance of the alliance.