Saudi Aramco is set to announce a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to take a 10 percent stake in Horse Powertrain, Renault Geely’s joint venture in internal combustion engines, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, supporting a business that is set to offset the uncertain rollout of electric power and meet demand in markets where gasoline still has a bright future.
The 10% figure, first reported by Bloomberg, is lower than the roughly 20% that sources had suggested early in the talks.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions, which were still ongoing Thursday, are confidential.
A spokeswoman for Horse declined to comment, while Geely and Aramco were not immediately available for comment.
The Saudi oil group signed a letter of intent in March 2023 with a view to possibly becoming a minority shareholder in the JV, founded on May 31.
➦ Renault and Geely create their thermal equipment supplier “Horse Powertrain”
(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, with Norihiko Shirouzu in Austin, Zoey Zhang in Shanghai and Maha el Dahan in Dubai, edited by Jean Terzian)