Fiat Chrysler’s merger offer for Renault, abandoned last June, was no longer on the table and looked unlikely to be revived for now, Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard has said.
Fiat Chrysler withdrew its US$35bn offer for Renault after blaming French politics for derailing the talks, a Reuters report noted.
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The French state, which has a 15% stake in Renault, had welcomed the plan but pushed for guarantees and concessions that exhausted the patience of FCA, the news agency’s sources said at the time.
In the months since the deal was abandoned, the two groups had looked at ways to potentially revive it, sources have told Reuters, including by reshaping the Renault-Nissan alliance and the shareholding structure.
“This matter is behind us today,” Senard reportedly told a hearing in the French senate, echoing similar remarks by Renault CEO Thierry Bollore earlier in September.
The Renault-Nissan alliance – strained by the arrest and detention of former chief Carlos Ghosn – was “fundamental”, Senard said.
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By GlobalDataA Renault-FCA tie-up would have helped to give the alliance with Nissan a more global dimension it lacks, Senard said.
“The matter is not on the table today. If (the project) were to come back one day on terms and conditions that would be acceptable for all parties I’d be delighted. But it’s not in the works,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Senard added that more consolidation in the auto sector in Europe would be needed to counter competition from China, the report said.
