Nissan Stock Down, Honda Up On Reports Of Block In Merger Plans

(RTTNews) - Shares of Nissan Motor Co. (NSANF.PK, NSANY.PK) dropped around 5 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange following media reports that the Japanese auto maker's board is planning to reject Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s (HMC) terms for a combination.

However, Honda shares climbed around 8 percent in Tokyo following the news and are up around 6 percent in pre-market activity on the NYSE.

Nissan's board was scheduled to meet later Wednesday. People familiar with the latest news noted that the Board is yet to make any final decision to reject the deal.

It was on December 23 that the companies announced that they were in official merger talks to create the world's third-largest automaker by vehicle sales.

The automakers planned to combine under a structure in which Honda and Nissan would both be subsidiaries of a single holding company. The deal also planned to include Mitsubishi Motors, whose major shareholders is Nissan.

Meanwhile, media reported recently that Honda presented a new proposal to make Nissan its unit, instead of initial plan of both being units of a holding company.

Nissan reportedly found the new proposal unacceptable and planned to reject it.

In Tokyo, Nissan shares closed Wednesday's regular trading at 386.90 yen, down 4.87 percent.

Honda shares were at 1,500.00 yen in Tokyo, up 8.19 percent.

in pre-market activity on the NYSE, Honda shares were trading at $29.22, up 6.10 percent.