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PARIS / TOKYO (Financial Times) – Renault has announced to Nissan its intention to block the Japanese company 's plan to reorganize its troubled corporate governance, thereby strengthening the tense relationship between the two partners. alliance.
The decision, revealed Saturday in a letter by Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, marks a brutal reversal of the policy and threatens to destroy Nissan's work months.
Mr. Senard's letter had been sent just two weeks before Nissan's annual meeting, during which the company was hoping to vote since the expected passing of an external auditor to a governance system consisting of three committees covering the appointments, remuneration and audit.
According to people familiar with the letter – which has not been made public – Mr. Senard wrote that, as a 43% shareholder of Nissan, Renault had decided to abstain at the vote, thus denying the proposal the required two-thirds majority.
People close to the Japanese manufacturer have condemned this initiative as "scandalous and irresponsible".
The three-committee plan, for which Mr. Senard had personally voted several times in his capacity as director of the Nissan Board of Directors, was born from several months of self-examination as a result the arrest last November of Carlos Ghosn, former president and CEO of both companies.
During his tenure, Mr. Ghosn had tried to make "irreversible" the alliance of car manufacturers, angering many Nissan members, who also feared the influence of the French state within the group. Relations between the two companies have long been strained, but they have been under intense pressure since Ghosn left.
Mr. Senard had planned to resume the merger talks with Nissan shortly after his arrival at the head of Renault to stabilize relations. But, having been pushed back once again, he turned to Fiat Chrysler. Nissan was only informed of the talks with FCA at the last minute, further undermining confidence between the two sides.
The FCA withdrew its merger proposal after the French state, which owns 15% of Renault's capital, asked for more time to secure Nissan's support.
French government officials said their decision to delay was motivated in part by representatives of Nissan's Renault management board, who said they would abstain rather than vote in favor. favor of the agreement. And although Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire publicly backed Senard, French officials said privately that he assured them that Nissan was in favor of the deal, accusing Renault's boss of 66 years of being naive.
People close to Nissan have speculated that Mr. Senard's intervention could represent an attempt to gain influence on his partner, hoping that FCA will return to the negotiating table. because Mr. Senard wants to restart negotiations on the merger with Nissan.
After Ghosn's arrest, Nissan convened a panel tasked with analyzing governance failures and proposing improvements. Its main recommendation was the immediate establishment of the three-committee system. The entire Nissan board, including Senard, unanimously approved the idea on May 15.
In Saturday's letter, said people familiar with its contents, Mr. Senard justified the reversal by saying that the system of the three committees could somehow be used to reduce the influence of Renault as a major shareholder from Nissan.
People familiar with Mr. Senard's thinking pointed out that the letter was "a step but only a step" in the perspective of Nissan's general meeting and that Renault's position could change.
These same people said that Renault was seeking to ensure the respect of its rights as a shareholder, adding that the French manufacturer worried about the future composition of the committees and how the powers of the board of The administration would be transferred to these committees.
"Senard clearly does not want this to be seen as a declaration of war, but as the beginning of a negotiation," said another person close to Renault.
Nissan and Renault declined to comment.
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