NSANY Nissan Motor Company Ltd (PK)

By Sean McLain and Nick Kostov 

The Renault-Nissan alliance is set to get a new decision-making body Tuesday, replacing a structure established by the architect of the partnership, former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn.

Renault SA said Monday it was in talks with partners Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to create a new body to "enhance and ensure further collaboration."

The new entity will be the highest decision-making body for the alliance and will be given limited authority over operations and corporate governance, according to two people familiar with the announcement. Many of the details have yet to be determined, the people said.

The new body will be similar to a board of directors and will probably be led by Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, one of the people said. The other members are likely to be Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa, Renault CEO Thierry Bolloré and Mitsubishi CEO Osamu Masuko, the person said.

Renault said any agreement would require approval by its board, which meets later this week.

Nissan's board was set to meet Tuesday. Mr. Ghosn asked the Tokyo District Court for permission to attend the meeting, but the court said Monday it turned him down. Mr. Ghosn's lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, said Nissan opposed the idea because it believed Mr. Ghosn's presence would put pressure on directors and make it hard to hold discussions.

Mr. Ghosn was released from jail on March 6 after posting bail of nearly $9 million. He had spent 108 days in a Tokyo detention center.

Mr. Ghosn is charged with violating two Japanese laws, one governing corporate financial disclosures and the other barring corporate executives from abusing their positions for personal gain. He has said he is innocent and called the charges against him meritless.

Mr. Ghosn was stripped of his role as Nissan chairman after his arrest Nov. 19, but he remains a director of the company at least until April, when Nissan has scheduled a shareholder's meeting to reshape its board and oust him from that position.

The heads of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi are holding a news conference Tuesday in Yokohama, where they are expected to outline their vision for the new organization.

The new decision-making structure will likely replace the current alliance board as well other organizations, the people familiar with the announcement said. These include the alliance operation committee and alliance strategic committee, a group of executives from each of the companies who meet regularly to discuss ways to cooperate and cut costs.

Ties between Renault and Nissan became strained in the wake of Mr. Ghosn's arrest. In December, Renault objected to how Nissan conducted its investigation into Mr. Ghosn. Nissan's efforts to share the findings of its investigation directly with Renault's board were rejected by the French company.

The companies say that tensions have reduced recently. That is in part due to the arrival of Mr. Senard, who was tapped in January to lead efforts to rebuild trust between the alliance partners.

The new structure probably will also lead to the winding down of Netherlands-based entities Renault-Nissan BV and Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, the people said.

Both of these companies have come under scrutiny for their connection to potential financial misdeeds by Mr. Ghosn.

Nissan and Mitsubishi say Mr. Ghosn improperly received EUR7.82 million ($8.8 million) between April 2018 and November 2018 after signing an employment agreement with Nissan-Mitsubishi BV. A spokeswoman for Mr. Ghosn has declined to comment on the alleged payments.

The payments aren't part of the criminal charges faced by Mr. Ghosn, but both Nissan and Mitsubishi said they would pursue ways to recover the money from him.

Renault and Nissan are jointly investigating Renault-Nissan BV, and the Renault board is set to get an update on the findings at its meeting this week. Mr. Ghosn also remains a director at Renault.

River Davis contributed to this article.

Write to Sean McLain at sean.mclain@wsj.com and Nick Kostov at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2019 07:58 ET (11:58 GMT)

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