Renault will resell its first shares to Nissan, i.e. 5% of the Japanese group's capital

Renault announced this Tuesday in a press release that it would transfer 5% of the Japanese manufacturer's capital to Nissan, out of the 28.4% it held, for an estimated value of 765 million euros. This sale will be effective on Wednesday and should result in a capital loss (i.e. the difference between the recorded value and the real value of Nissan shares) estimated at 1.5 billion euros maximum, Renault said in a press release.

This charge will seriously weigh down the net profit of the Renault group, which posted 2 billion euros in net profit in the first half. The 765 million euros, calculated according to the Nissan share price at the close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Tuesday, will however “improve the net liquidity position of Renault's automobile branch”, underlined the group.

As part of the rebalancing of their Alliance, announced in early 2023 after years of, Renault Group and Nissan will continue to hold a 15% cross-shareholding. Renault had transferred the balance of the Nissan shares it owned “into a French trust”, reserving for Nissan a right of first offer.

The relationship within the Alliance, which also includes Mitsubishi, had been complicated by the surprise rise of the French state's stake in Renault in 2015, then by the spectacular fall of Carlos Ghosn, then boss of the alliance, and arrested at the end of 2018 in Japan on charges of financial embezzlement.