Honda-Nissan merger negotiations likely to begin next week, says Nikkei

By Chester Dawson

 

Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. will begin negotiations on a possible merger as soon as Dec. 23, according to Japan’s Nikkei news service, bringing the two Japanese automakers a step closer together. 

The start of formal discussions as soon as next week would accelerate momentum toward a potential consolidation, the Nikkei reported Wednesday without citing sources. Bloomberg confirmed Tuesday a deal is under consideration by the companies’ senior leadership, and could be widened to include Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

 

Representatives for Honda and Nissan in the US didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on the start-date for talks.

 

Honda and Nissan’s move to strengthen ties comes after Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the Taiwan-based producer of iPhones known as Foxconn, approached Nissan about acquiring a stake in the company, Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday. 

 

Honda had threatened to either dissolve an existing technology partnership with Nissan if the Yokohama-based carmaker pursued a partnership with Foxconn, or become a white knight in the event of a hostile takeover attempt of Nissan by Foxconn, the Nikkei report said. 

 

A merger of the Japanese companies would create a bulwark against the Toyota Motor Corp. group at home and allow Honda and Nissan to pool resources to compete with Tesla Inc. and Chinese carmakers in global markets.