Nissan close to selling entire stake in Calsonic Kansei to private equity firm KKR & Co

Nissan Motor Co has decided to sell its entire 41-per cent stake in Japanese auto parts maker Calsonic Kansei Corp to private equity firm KKR & Co, the Nikkei daily reported, without citing sources.

KKR will then buy the remaining shares in Calsonic from other shareholders, bringing the total deal to as much as ¥400 billion ($3.80 billion), the report said.

Japanese media had earlier reported that KKR & Co, Bain Capital and MBK Partners were in the race to buy Calsonic.

Founded in 1938, Calsonic is a global automotive parts manufacturer of auto interiors, electronics and climate systems.

It makes cockpit module, front-end module, exhaust systems, air conditioning unit, compressor, instrument panel, instrument cluster, electronic components, radiator, condenser, muffler, converter, and others.

Its clients include Audi, Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Jaguar Land Rover, Isuzu Motors, Mazda Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Suzuki, Volkswagen and others.

Nissan accounts for about 80 per cent of Calsonic's estimated global sale of $10.32 billion in the most recent fiscal year.

Calsonic has its is own production lines as sublines inside Nissan plants to speed delivery.

Apart from Calsonic, Nissan is also looking to sell its stake in its battery-producing joint venture with Japan's NEC Corp and its 51 per cent holding in Automotive Energy Supply Corp.

In May, Nissan agreed to buy a controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp for about $2.2 billion in order to better compete with its bigger rivals like Toyota Motor and Volkswagen. (See: Nissan Motor buys controlling stake in embattled Mitsubishi Motors for $2.2 bn)