Troubled Nissan Draws Interest From Both Honda and Foxconn

Troubled Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor is said to have accelerated discussions to merge with rival Honda Motor after Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry expressed an interest in taking a stake. News of the merger talks sent Nissan’s shares surging a record 24%. Nissan’s problems became evident last month when it slashed its profit forecast, said it would cull 9,000 jobs globally, and announced a 20% reduction to global output. Since then, various entities have circled the carmaker, with activist investors building up positions in its stock. France’s Renault will also have a say in any deal due to its 36% stake in Nissan. Hon Hai, which makes iPhones for Apple and is known as Foxconn, has been investing heavily in factories to build EVs.

Hong Kong’s securities watchdog is said to have searched the offices of about a dozen finance firms and individuals last month as part of a probe of company listings on the Nasdaq exchange. The investigation centers around so-called pump-and-dump operations, where people may have colluded to cause wild price swings. The New York exchange previously raised concerns about Hong Kong-based firms after shares of some surged before plummeting. About 55 firms from China and Hong Kong have floated shares on Nasdaq this year, raising a combined $1.3 billion.