Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. are in talks to merge and create a new company that trades as a single stock, people with knowledge of the matter said.
A deal would end the current alliance between the companies and marry them as one corporation, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as the details aren't public. Renault currently owns 43 percent of Nissan while the Japanese carmaker has a 15 percent stake in its French counterpart. Carlos Ghosn, the chairman of both companies, is driving the negotiations and would run the combined entity, the sources said.
The parties are discussing a transaction in which Nissan would essentially give Renault shareholders stock in the new company. Nissan shareholders would also receive shares in the new company in exchange for their holdings, the sources said. The automaker may maintain headquarters in both Japan and France.