The pension trust of German automaker Mercedes-Benz has sold its stake in Japan's Nissan Motor for 47.83 billion yen ($324.65m), a source with direct knowledge of the matter said today.
Shares of the Japanese automaker held on to their losses of about 6% from earlier in the session, following Mercedes-Benz's announcement that it would sell its 3.8% stake. The stock was headed for its worst day since July.
The slide in Nissan shares since the news highlights investor scepticism over the company's turnaround prospects as it battles tariffs and falling sales in its key markets, the US and China. The automaker booked a $535m loss for the three months ended June.
Mercedes-Benz sold its Nissan shares at 341.3 yen each, a 5.98% discount to Nissan's close of 363 yen yesterday, according to the source. The shares were offered at a price range of 337.5 yen to 341 yen, a term sheet seen by Reuters showed.
Demand outstripped the number of shares placed for sale, the source said on condition of anonymity as the information was confidential. The top ten investors in the deal were allocated about 70% of the shares sold, the source added.
Nissan declined to comment and Mercedes-Benz said it had no immediate comment beyond its prior statement.
A spokesperson for the German automaker yesterday said the Nissan stake, which was transferred to its pension assets in 2016, was not of strategic importance and described the sale as cleaning out its portfolio.
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa, who took over in April, has unveiled a turnaround plan to restore profitability, which includes measures such as cutting global production capacity to 2.5 million vehicles from 3.5 million and manufacturing sites to 10 from 17 by fiscal 2027.
Late last month, Espinosa said Nissan was still in the early stages of recovery but that it was making progress on cost cuts.
Reporting by Reuters
