Nissan shares rise after overhaul of Renault alliance

TOKYO (Reuters) - Shares of Nissan Motor Corp rose in early trade in Tokyo on Tuesday, after the Japanese automaker and its French partner Renault SA announced a sweeping overhaul of their two-decade-old alliance putting them on equal footing.

Nissan shares were up almost 2%, outperforming a flat Nikkei 225 share average.

Under the deal announced on Monday, Nissan and Renault will now hold 15% stakes in each other, and Nissan will get voting rights with its stake. Previously, Renault held around 43% of the Japanese automaker and Nissan did not have voting rights.

The uneven nature of the alliance had long been a source of friction for Nissan executives.

"The normalisation of the capital relationship will raise the amount of freedom Nissan has in terms of management, making it easier to adopt a strategy that focuses on the United States, China and emerging markets," Masayuki Kubota, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities, told Reuters following Monday's announcement.

Renault put around 28% of the Japanese automaker in a French trust as part of the deal, which includes a lock-up that prevents share sales for a certain period, as well as a standstill obligation, which puts other limits on a stock sale.

The French automaker's shares closed 4% lower on Monday after the deal was announced.

(Reporting by David Dolan and Daniel Leussink; Editing by Jamie Freed)