Renault has appointed French investment bank BNP Paribas to advise on a possible alliance between Renault, Nissan and General Motors, according to the Financial Times today. In addition it has drawn up a shortlist of British and US investment banks that would also advise on the deal, said the report.
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The report is backed up by a separate article in the Wall Street Journal which said that Renault is in the process of hiring two investment banks as advisors.
President of Renault and Nissan Carlos Ghosn has said in the past that for an alliance to work Renault would take a stake in General Motors. A proposal put forward by GM’s largest individual shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian, who instigated the tie-up talks in the first place, suggested that Renault and Nissan would take a combined 20% stake.
The fact that banks are being appointed does now make it more likely that a deal will go ahead. Teams from each of the three companies have been in discussions since July to discuss the possible benefits of a tie-up in ten business categories, including procurement, research & development and production.
At a briefing with analysts in July Carlos Ghosn said that if Nissan and Renault are to convince their shareholders of the merit of teaming up with GM, they have to back up their argument with solid data.
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By GlobalDataGhosn also said the Nissan-Renault alliance will not form a partnership with GM if the benefits of the deal outweigh its risks only by a small margin.
Reports have been circulating in the last week that Ford would be interested in an alliance with Renault-Nissan if a deal with GM does not go ahead.
