Photograph of the Renault logo at the entrance to the Choisy-le-Roi factory (Val-de-Marne). (AFP / BERTRAND GUAY)
Renault announced on Wednesday a second sale of Nissan shares, representing around 2.5% of the capital, as part of the unraveling of their links and the overhaul in 2023 of the alliance linking them since 1999.
Renault plans to sell up to 100,242,900 Nissan shares, which will cancel them, the French automobile group said in a press release.
On the Renault side, this sale would result in a positive cash flow of up to 362 million euros, depending on the closing price of Nissan shares on Wednesday (restated by 10 yen, corresponding to the next dividend that Renault Group should receive on these shares) , but a capital loss of up to 450 million euros on the consolidated accounts.
This operation “will make it possible to accelerate debt reduction and support the determination” of the group to “regain an +investment grade+ financial rating”, underlined the manufacturer.
As part of the rebalancing of their alliance, announced in early 2023 after years of conflict, Renault Group and Nissan will continue to hold a 15% cross-shareholding.
Renault, which previously held 43.4% of Nissan, had transferred the shares above 15% to a French trust.
Renault can sell the remainder of the 180,447,100 shares that have not been repurchased to Nissan or third parties.