Nissan's Ghosn offers conditions in bid to get jail release

Carlos Ghosn is willing to remain in Tokyo, where he has leased an apartment.

tokyo - Nissan CEO says time not right for talks on closer tie-up

Published: Mon 21 Jan 2019, 6:48 PM

Last updated: Mon 21 Jan 2019, 8:50 PM

Ousted Nissan Motor Co chairman Carlos Ghosn has offered to wear an electronic ankle tag and hire guards to monitor him in an unusual bid to secure his release on bail after two months of detention in Japan for alleged financial crimes.

Ghosn is also willing to remain in Tokyo, where he has leased an apartment, and post stock he owns in Nissan as collateral, his spokeswoman said. A new bail hearing is set for Monday after an earlier request was denied due partly to concerns the French executive was a flight risk.

His release would allow Ghosn to meet more frequently with his lawyers and defend himself before the board of Renault, where he remains chairman and CEO, amid calls for his removal and potential moves to restructure the Nissan tie-up.

As his arrest on November 19 continued to cloud the outlook for Nissan's three-way alliance with France's Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan said it was not the time to discuss revising the partners' capital ties.

Ghosn had pushed for a deeper tie-up between Nissan and Renault, including possibly a full merger, despite strong reservations at the Japanese firm.

"We are not at the stage for such discussions," Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters on Monday.

Saikawa also said he had not heard directly about a reported French proposal to integrate the Japanese carmaker's management with Renault, adding that it was not the time to discuss revising the partners' capital ties.

The Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday that a French government delegation had informed Tokyo that it would seek an integration of Renault and Nissan, most likely under the umbrella of a single holding company. - Reuters