Renault board agrees to further talks in French standoff
By Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume
PARIS (Reuters) - Renault's board failed on Friday to resolve an escalating power struggle with the French state over the carmaker's alliance with Nissan <7201.T>, agreeing to back further talks in a bid to end the standoff.
Renault called the emergency board session amid an increasingly open conflict between Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, triggered by the government's surprise move in April to raise its Renault stake and secure double voting rights.
A board statement released after Paris stock market trading closed said discussions would continue between the government and Nissan, Renault's two biggest shareholders.
Macron raised the state's Renault holding from 15 to 19.7 percent to block Ghosn's opt-out from a new law doubling voting rights, thereby increasing the state's clout at Renault.
Renault owns a 43.4 percent controlling stake in Nissan, which holds a non-voting 15 percent of Renault. Ghosn, 61, serves as CEO of both carmakers.
Nissan has expressed concern over the government move and in September drew up confidential proposals to end Renault's control by acquiring a bigger stake in its French parent, Reuters reported last week.
The Japanese carmaker sounded an impatient note in comments released by Chief Competitive Officer Hiroto Saikawa, a Renault director, before the French company had issued its own board statement.
The French government's move had "highlighted an imbalance in the Renault-Nissan alliance", Ghosn's second-in-command at Nissan said. "Nissan would like to put this matter behind us as soon as possible so that we can reestablish the foundations of a successful alliance and focus on our real business."
Macron, a 37-year-old former investment banker, has been pressuring Ghosn for months to undertake a full Renault-Nissan merger on the French government's terms, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
(Editing by David Holmes)
