Renault Offloads 28% of its Stake in Nissan to a French Trust

France and Renault's stake in Nissan fell to 15 percent from about 43 percent, giving the French trust 28.4 percent of the Japanese automaker, the companies said in an alliance statement, putting them on equal footing. A new deal to restructure Renault, Nissan, and their junior partner Mitsubishi Motors took effect on Wednesday (Nov 8), the carmakers said.

"This next chapter of the alliance builds on the foundation of a long-term partnership and maximizes value creation for each member of the alliance," said the statement.

Nissan and Renault finalized the terms of the deal in July after announcing a major review of their partnership in London earlier this year following months of intense negotiations over the Japanese carmaker's concerns about protecting intellectual property rights in future partnerships.

The companies had already said in January that Renault would put roughly 28 percent of Nissan in a French trust to make them more equal partners.

Nissan has, as part of the deal, committed to invest up to 600 million euros (US$641.10 million) in Renault's electric vehicle unit, Ampere, consistent with it being a strategic investor and securing a board seat on the company. Mitsubishi has separately committed to invest up to 200 million euros in the unit, which Renault hopes to list on the market through an initial public offering by next spring.