by Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) – Renault will detail its future electric entity next month to investors and financial analysts, the culmination of its promotional work with a view to an initial public offering which could value “Ampère” up to ten billion dinars. ‘euros.

The diamond group announced Thursday in a press release that the highly anticipated “Capital Market Day” (CMD) dedicated to the entity would be held on Wednesday, November 15 in Paris.

“On this occasion, Luca de Meo will present Ampère’s strategy and its medium-term objectives,” added Renault.

At the Munich Motor Show in early September, the manufacturer’s general director declared that Ampère could be worth “eight, nine, ten billion” during its IPO planned for next spring if market conditions permit.

He then flew to New York to promote his project to investors.

Renault’s response to Tesla or the Chinese newcomers, Ampère wants to be a “pure player” in electricity and software, freer to move in a rapidly changing automobile sector, and simpler to read than if it remained intertwined in the thermal activities of an automobile group more than a century old.

The outlines of the entity are already known: three vehicle and transmission assembly plants in the North of France and a large contingent of engineers at the Technocentre (Yvelines), to which will be added the production of batteries from gigafactories from AESC Envision and Verkor, also in the North, as well as electric motors from Cléon (Seine-Maritime).

Ampère, which will employ around 10,000 people, will be embodied next year in a first product, the Renault 5. The entity, which is currently continuing to put its teams in battle order, is aiming for an operating profit and free cash break-even flow from 2025 and a double-digit margin in 2030.

Renault’s historic partner within an alliance currently being restructured, Nissan, has committed to investing up to 600 million euros in the activity. The other Japanese partner of the alliance, Mitsubishi, could follow suit, as could the American semiconductor giant Qualcomm, which intends to invest there either directly or via one of its subsidiaries.

Renault, which will remain a majority stake in Ampère, also estimates that more than 10% of the entity’s capital should remain floating to ensure “enough liquidity” on the stock market for the new title.

Faced with massive investments to finance the electrification of cars, several strategies are in place.

Stellantis, for example, refuses to split its historic thermal activities and its new electrical activities in the name of the group’s uniqueness, while alongside Ampère, Renault has already created a joint venture with partners to accommodate its gasoline and diesel engines.

(Report by Gilles Guillaume, edited by Nicolas Delame)

Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters