Nissan scraps one billion dollar battery deal with GSR
No deal, Nissan told GSR Capital of China today after the firm failed to buy off Nissan’s battery business AESC for almost a year. It turned out GSR does not have the required one billion dollars for the acquisition and so Nissan is open to other suitors.
News of the planned acquisition first came about last year when Nissan wanted to sell its battery unit AESC with plants in Tennessee (USA) and Sunderland (UK) as well as parts of Nissan’s Japan-based battery production.
Back then, Nissan expected to close the deal before the year’s end but has now called off the entire process, saying GSR would not have the required funds. Nissan, which holds a 51 percent stake in AESC had extended the deadline three times from its original December 2017 closing date. NEC holds 42 percent.
The company still intends to sell the subsidiary, a Nissan spokesperson said but declined to comment on whether GSR could still be a prospective buyer. GSR previously bought a stake in Saab successor NEVS and was planning to build a battery production facility in Sweden (we reported).
Meanwhile, Nissan is looking to find a new buyer. The asking sum of the battery deal is undisclosed but estimated to amount to one billion dollars.
0 Comments