Nissan Motor Co. and French partner Renault SA are drawing close to a capital tieup agreement with Germany's Daimler AG that may be concluded by the end of this week, sources said Monday.
"The talks could move during the week," a senior Nissan official said.
Renault's management team is expected to iron out the details with Daimler around the middle of the week, the sources said.
Nissan and Renault plan to obtain stakes of around 3 percent in Daimler, while the German automaker is set to take similar stakes in each of the alliance partners.
"The issue is not how high or low the (investment) ratio is," another senior Nissan official said. "The cross-shareholding will be symbolic of each other's confidence and sense of security as we prepare for exchanging technological secrets."
The Nissan-Renault alliance is considering investing in Daimler through their joint venture firm or by separately obtaining Daimler stakes.
The three automakers are mulling an equity swap or a capital tieup through the use of their own shares, the sources said.
Daimler will be able to tap into the Nissan-Renault alliance's competitive edge in compact and electric vehicles.