Nissan is looking for an anchor investor to help it through the crucial 12 months

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Nissan is looking for an anchor investor to help it get through a crucial year as its long-time partner Renault sells its stake in the troubled Japanese automaker.

Two people familiar with the talks said Nissan was looking for a long-term, solid shareholder, such as a bank or insurance group, to replace part of Renault’s shareholding as Nissan finalizes the terms of its new electric vehicle partnership with arch-rival Honda .

“We still have 12 to 14 months to survive,” said a senior official close to Nissan.

Nissan has not ruled out Honda buying some of its shares, with “all options” being considered as the company implements a series of restructuring measures amid declining sales in China and the United States, the people said.

In addition, people close to Renault said the company was ready to sell part of its shares in Nissan to Honda as part of a restructuring of its 25-year-old Nissan alliance. A person close to Renault said a stronger relationship between Nissan and Honda could “only be positive” for the French group.

Nissan and Honda have intensified their partnership discussions to develop electric vehicles and software technology. This is the strong pressure from Chinese competitors and the greater uncertainty in the US after the re-election of Donald Trump as president.

“This will be hard. And in the end we need Japan and the US to generate money,” said the senior official close to Nissan. After failing to capitalize on the recent boom in the popularity of hybrid sales in the United States, Nissan is planning a number of major product launches in the coming months and years.

Since announcing their partnership in August, both Japanese companies had downplayed the possibility of tying up capital, with a person close to Nissan saying Honda’s purchase of a stake would be “a last resort.”

But the search for an anchor investor has become even more important as the turmoil at Nissan attracted investment from Singapore’s Effissimo Capital Management and Hong Kong’s Oasis Management, two of Asia’s most prominent activists whose campaigns previously targeted the likes of Toshiba and Nintendo.

Nissan’s closer ties with Honda came after the restructuring of its long-standing alliance with Renault, agreed after the French carmaker saved the Japanese group from near-bankruptcy in 1999.

However, the relationship was plagued by constant power struggles over unequal ownership of shares and voting rights, with Renault holding 43 percent of Nissan while Nissan owned just 15 percent of the non-voting French group.

After capital recalibration last year, the French automaker reduced its Nissan stake to just under 36 percent, including the remaining 18.7 percent in a French trust that it reduced. Nissan received voting rights for its 15 percent stake in Renault, which retains a 15 percent voting share in the Japanese group.

Nissan also holds a 34 percent stake in smaller alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors, which the company plans to reduce to 24 percent as part of its emergency restructuring measures.

Nissan declined to comment on the search for an anchor investor and the possibility of a stake purchase by Honda, but added: “The partnership with Honda is strategically very important and we hope to implement the results of our activities through regular progress in implementation to accelerate.” Management level of both companies.”

Honda declined to comment.

Although Renault is not directly involved in the talks, the company could be open to working with Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi as carmakers combine efforts to develop electric vehicles in response to China’s strength in the industry, people familiar with the matter said . Renault said in a statement but there were no discussions about a broader partnership. It added that it supported a “potential win-win situation between Nissan and Honda.”

People familiar with the matter said the outcome of the talks would provide a test case for how companies could weather industry upheaval, pitting companies like Stellantis, which emerged from a megamerger, against smaller players like Renault and Nissan that are forging them Technology and regional partnerships.

“Is bigger really better?” Or is the partnership model better?” said the senior official close to Nissan, pointing out that the pursuit of scale would lead to inefficiency at a certain point.

People familiar with the talks said broader collaboration between Renault and Mitsubishi made strategic sense, although the French group added that there were no current discussions to that end.

While there is a lot of overlap in geographical footprint between Nissan and Honda, with a focus on China, the US and Japan, Renault’s involvement would bring strength in Europe. Meanwhile, both Renault and Honda are confident of Mitsubishi’s competitive advantage over Chinese rivals in Southeast Asia and its advanced plug-in hybrid technology.

Regarding cooperation between the three Japanese automakers, Mitsubishi Motors said: “We are currently exploring all possibilities and are committed to collaborating in areas where we can leverage our strengths,” but added that no specific details have been finalized yet.