Renault and Nissan Motor are interested in purchasing a significant stake in General Motors and including the struggling automaker in their alliance, according to a letter sent on Friday to GM from billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian’s investment company, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
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The letter from Kerkorian’s investment company, Tracinda Corp., reportedly said it believes Renault and Nissan are receptive to the idea of including General Motors in their partnership and purchasing “a significant minority interest” in the Detroit automaker.
Renault, Nissan and GM already co-operate in Europe on the design and manufacture of two van ranges.
AP said that Tracinda, a large minority shareholder in GM, said the existing French-Japanese partnership has created “tremendous engineering, manufacturing and marketing synergies, resulting in substantial benefits and cost savings to both Renault and Nissan.”
Tracinda reportedly urged GM’s board to form a committee to “immediately and fully explore this opportunity together with management,” as it feels the alliance could help GM “realise substantial synergies and cost savings and thereby greatly benefit the company and enhance shareholder value.”
The letter also indicates that Tracinda has reached out to Renault chairman Louis Schweitzer and Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn to alert them to its contact with General Motors, the news agency said.
In a separate letter advising Schweitzer and Ghosn of the GM correspondence, Tracinda reportedly noted that “as we recently discussed with Mr. Ghosn, Tracinda believes that General Motors, Renault and Nissan should explore a three-company, partnership-based alliance.”
