KKR said to weigh Nissan investment after Honda talks fail
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More suitors have emerged for struggling Nissan Motor after talks with rival Honda Motor failed.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON - KKR & Co is considering investing in Nissan Motor, people familiar with the matter said, as more suitors emerge for the struggling carmaker after talks with rival Honda Motor failed.
The US-based private equity giant is in the early stages of evaluating an equity or debt investment to improve Nissan’s financial position, the people said.
Talks are ongoing and KKR may decide not to pursue a deal, the people said. KKR and Nissan representatives declined comment.
On Feb 13, Honda and Nissan formally ended negotiations to combine into what would have been one of the world’s biggest carmakers. The two, along with Mitsubishi Motors, will still continue their strategic partnership and collaborate on in-house development of batteries, autonomous driving, software and electric vehicle technology.
Nissan has been casting around for a new partner as talks with Honda wobbled, people familiar with the matter said previously, and is looking for an ally ideally from the technology sector and based in the US. Walking away from the tie-up with Honda is a huge gamble for Nissan, which has an outdated product line-up that has forced it to discount vehicles heavily, destroying its bottom line.
KKR has long had a presence in Japan, which accounts for about 39 per cent of its Asia-Pacific portfolio, according to an investor presentation in 2024. Japan now ranks as the country where it is deploying the most capital outside the US.
KKR teamed up with local buyout fund Japan Industrial Partners on an acquisition of Hitachi’s chip equipment arm that was completed in 2018. It relisted the company, now known as Kokusai Electric, in 2023 in what ranked as the biggest Japanese initial public offering in years. The firm’s other portfolio companies in Japan have included supermarket chain Seiyu, contract drug developer Bushu Pharma, power tool and life science equipment maker Koki, accounting software provider Yayoi and payments platform NetStars.
The private equity firm has a number of ongoing potential transactions in the country, where staid corporations are being shaken up by a wave of interest from foreign capital and activist investors.
KKR earlier in February raised its offer for Japanese software company Fuji Soft to fend off a rival bid from Bain Capital. It is considering a stake in a proposal by Seven & i Holdings’ founding family to take the convenience store chain 7-Eleven private, Bloomberg News has reported.
KKR has also invested in Japanese auto-parts supplier Marelli Holdings. The 2022 restructuring of Marelli cost KKR the US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) it invested in the company, though it put in another US$650 million to fund a revamp of the business, and it has now returned to profitability.
Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Taiwanese iPhone maker better known as Foxconn, is also circling Nissan now that Honda talks have broken down. Chairman Young Liu said earlier this week that Foxconn is open to buying Renault’s 36 per cent shareholding in Nissan, and that it was aiming to partner the Japanese carmaker and not take over it. BLOOMBERG
