Nissan to invest up to 600 million euro in new Renault EV unit

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO (Reuters) -Nissan and Renault (EPA:) on Wednesday finalised the terms of their revamped alliance, with the Japanese automaker committing to invest up to 600 million euros ($663 million) in its partner’s electric vehicle unit Ampere.

The agreement to conclude the terms of their overhauled partnership will put the two automakers on more equal footing and caps months of sometimes tense negotiations over issues such as the sharing of future intellectual property.

The investment in Ampere is consistent with Nissan (OTC:) being a strategic investor and securing a board seat on the new company, Nissan said.

Sources have said Ampere could be valued at up to 10 billion euros. That would put Nissan’s investment of up to 600 million euros in Ampere at about 6%, lower than the 15% it had flagged as a maximum share in February.

In a statement, Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said the Ampere investment “complements and strengthens Nissan’s ongoing electric push in Europe”.

The companies said the overhaul was subject to regulatory approvals and completion was expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.

With the agreement, Renault confirmed its commitment to reduce its stake in Nissan from around 43% by transferring 28.4% of its Nissan shares into a French trust, which would put the automakers on equal ground.

($1 = 0.9053 euros)