Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday it will sell its entire stake in German automaker Daimler AG for 1.15 billion euros ($1.38 billion) and invest the acquired funds in such areas as promoting automotive electrification, in a bid to step up its global competitiveness.
The shares to be sold would account for about 1.5 percent of the total stocks issued by Daimler, a partner with the alliance of the Japanese carmaker and French Renault SA since 2010 which have cooperated in developing compact and electric vehicles, according to Nissan.
Nissan's move follows that of Renault which announced in March the sale of its entire stake in Daimler.
The three-way cooperation has seen little progress in recent years. Under the deal, Nissan and Renault held combined stakes of 3.1 percent, 1.55 percent each, in Daimler, while the German automaker in turn took a 3.1 percent stake in each of the alliance partners.
Both Nissan and Renault said their partnerships with Daimler remain unchanged and will not be impacted by the financial transaction.
The three companies have cooperated in such areas as production and development including a midsize pickup truck for Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand.
The planned sale of the stake in Daimler will also improve Nissan's balance sheet, after the automaker forecast in February a group net loss of 530 billion yen ($4.85 billion) for the year through March 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and a global semiconductor shortage.
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