The pension trust of Mercedes-Benz, a German automaker, has divested its shares in Nissan Motor of Japan for 47.83 billion yen ($324.65 million), according to a source familiar with the transaction on Tuesday.
Nissan’s shares continued to dip by approximately 6% since earlier in the session, following Mercedes-Benz’s Monday announcement of selling its 3.8% stake. This marked Nissan’s worst trading day since July.
The decline in Nissan’s stock reflects investor doubts about the company’s revival efforts as it faces challenges like tariffs and declining sales in major markets like the US and China. The automaker reported a $535 million loss for the quarter ending in June.
Mercedes-Benz sold its Nissan shares at 341.3 yen each, a 5.98% discount from Nissan’s Monday closing price of 363 yen, as per the source. A term sheet seen by Reuters indicated the shares were priced between 337.5 yen and 341 yen.
The demand exceeded the number of shares available for sale, the source noted, under the condition of anonymity due to confidentiality. About 70% of the shares were allocated to the top ten investors in the deal, the source added.
Nissan declined to comment, and Mercedes-Benz stated it had no further comment beyond its previous statement.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz mentioned that the Nissan stake, added to its pension assets in 2016, was not strategically vital, labeling the sale as a portfolio cleanup.
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa, who assumed his role in April, has announced a recovery plan to regain profitability, including reducing global production capacity to 2.5 million vehicles from 3.5 million and cutting manufacturing sites to 10 from 17 by fiscal 2027.
Late last month, Espinosa mentioned that Nissan is still in the early recovery stages but is making progress on reducing costs.
As of 0600 GMT, Nissan shares traded at 342.5 yen, down 5.7%, while the broader Nikkei index declined 0.9%.
