Nissan is considering the sale of its majority stake in the rechargeable battery unit joint venture it has set up in China with NEC.
The Japanese carmaker has reportedly been seeking a buyer for its share of Automotive Energy Supply Corp (AESC) since last year, as it may be cheaper to buy batteries for its Leaf electric cars from other suppliers.
GSR Capital, a Chinese private equity firm with backing from the Hubei provincial government, has been named as the potential buyer. The price tag is about $1billion, according to Bloomberg.
GSR Capital could move some of AESC’s manufacturing to Hubei, if the deal goes through. The central Chinese province – home to the country’s second-largest carmaker, Dongfeng Motor Group – has earmarked 547 billion yuan ($80 billion) for investments in areas like clean energy to modernise its economy.
GSR Capital is led by chairman Sonny Wu, who invested in Chinese electric-carmaker Xin Da Yang and is also a backer of Boston Power, which builds lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and buses.
AESC was formed as a joint venture between Nissan and NEC in 2007 with Nissan holding a 51% stake in the maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf.
