PARIS: Renault SA is exploring a possible breakup and initial public offering of its electric vehicle assets, according to analysts, a move that would transform the French automaker laid low by its ties to Russia.
"The management team continues to conduct exploratory works in view to split the company into possibly two entities,” Stifel analysts including Pierre Quemener wrote in a note. Renault last month signalled a retreat from its second-largest market by halting operations at its Moscow plant and saying it’s assessing available options for its AvtoVaz venture that makes the country’s top selling Lada brand.
The company"is studying the opportunity to bring together its 100% electric activities and technologies within a dedicated entity in France to accelerate their growth,” it said in a Feb 18 statement. "All options to separate the ICE from the BEV business are on the table,” Exane BNP Paribas analysts wrote in a note, saying this could include an IPO of the EV assets or off-loading of the combustion-engine operations into a joint venture.
I still find it surprising that anyone would even buy a Renault