The joint venture is to hold the alliance’s and Rostechnologii State Corporation’s stakes in AVTOVAZ OJSC

Moscow, December 12, 2012.

Renault-Nissan Alliance and State Сorporation «Russian Technologies» have established a joint venture to hold all their equity stakes in AVTOVAZ OJSC and be a stable, reliable controlling shareholder in Russia’s largest automaker that owns the LADA brand for the long term.

Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance Carlos Ghosn announced the establishment of Alliance Rostec Auto BV together with Rostechnologii CEO and AVTOVAZ Chairman Sergey Chemezov and AVTOVAZ CEO Igor Komarov at a ceremony in Moscow today.

“Today’s agreement will go down in history as a unique deal beneficial to all three brands: Renault, Nissan, and LADA, and will become the first stage in successful cooperation,” M. Ghosn said. “The joint venture is going to enable our faster growth in Russia and will help the competitiveness of AVTOVAZ, the Russian automotive industry leader.”

Under the terms of the transaction, the Renault-Nissan Alliance will invest RUB 23 billion (equivalent to US$ 742 million). In exchange for this investment, Renault-Nissan will receive a 67.13% equity stake in the JV by mid-2014. After this, the JV will hold 74.5% in AVTOVAZ.

Renault is going to invest approximately RUB 11.3 billion (US$ 366 million) in the JV, expecting to obtain 50.1% in the joint venture by June 2014. Nissan is going to invest RUB 11.7 billion (US$ 376 million), expecting to receive 17.03% in the joint venture by the same date. Rostechnologii will obtain 32.87% in the joint venture over the same period of time.

At the time of closing the deal in 2014, the new joint venture will buy out all the AVTOVAZ stock currently held by Troika Dialog Investments Limited. The transaction hinges on some preliminary conditions which must be met exactly.

Joining forces for European economic growth

The Alliance Rostec Auto BV Board of Directors will address strategic issues and matters and become a discussion platform for the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Rostechnologii.

The transaction will see President of Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn become Chairman of the Alliance Rostec Auto JV. The JV’s Board of Directors will include:
- three directors representing the Renault-Nissan Alliance: Dominique Thormann, CFO, Renault, Joseph Peter, CFO, Nissan, Bruno Ancelin, Senior VP and Chairman of Eurasia Region, Renault;
- two directors representing Rostechnologii State Corporation: Sergey Chemezov, General Director, Rostechnologii, and Igor Zavyalov, Deputy General Director, Rostechnologii.

AVTOVAZ’s 12-seat Board of Directors Совет will be expanded to accommodate 15 directors, with eight representing the Renault-Nissan Alliance (to be approved by the AVTOVAZ EGM). The EGM will take place on February 12, 2013. Sergey Chemezov is to remain Chairman of AVTOVAZ, alternating in this position with Carlos Ghosn as Deputy Chairman from June 2013.

“Russian automotive market is becoming a European leader in terms of car sales,” said the corporation’s General Director Sergey Chemezov. “AVTOVAZ and its partners are planning to reach annual output of more than 1 million passenger cars by 2020, with quality to match the most exacting world standards. Partnership with the Renault-Nissan Alliance will make it possible to create new modern, well-paying jobs for residents of Tolyatti and the Samara Region.”

The transaction is being concluded eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a new production line at the AVTOVAZ Tolyatti plant, with an annual production capacity of up to 350,000 cars. This production line will become the site for joint use of automotive platforms. Production of LADA Largus was launched back in the spring of 2012 at the new facility, and production of the new Nissan Almera was launched yesterday, to reach full capacity in the spring of 2013. The plant will be producing five models under three brands – LADA, Renault and Nissan – on this production facility in 2013. Total investment in this project is to reach approximately EUR 400 million.

“Reinforcing our partnership is a natural logical stage in this joint project,” AVTOVAZ President Igor Komarov said. “AVTOVAZ became a multi-brand company yesterday – we started making a car for Nissan in Tolyatti. Speeding up our integration will enable us to increase the efficiency of our joint efforts and increase market share.”

RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE
Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between French automaker Renault, headquartered in Paris, and Japanese Nissan Motor Company, headquartered in Yokohama, which, together with AVTOVAZ, account for more than one in every ten cars sold worldwide. Renault and Nissan, which have been strategic partners since 1999, sold 8.03 cars in approximately 200 countries in 2011. The two-way alliance has strategic cooperation agreements with many car automakers worldwide, including Germany’s Daimler, China’s Dong Feng, and local companies, such as India’s Ashok Leyland.
http://blog.alliance-renault-nissan.com/

For additional information, please contact:
Mia Nielsen, Communications Manager, Renault-Nissan Alliance, +33 (0) 176 87 12 33, mnielsen@nissan-europe.com
Oxana Nazarova, PR Director, Renault, + 7 (495) 775-4042, oхana.nazarova@renault.com

Russian Technologies State Corporation
Rostechnologii is a Russian government corporation established in 2007 to promote design, manufacture and exports of high-tech manufacturing products for civilian and military use. The corporation comprises 663 companies and organizations, currently clustered under 12 holding companies in the defense industry sector, and five companies in civilian manufacturing sectors. Rostechnologii subsidiaries lie in 60 Russian regions, shipping their products to the markets of more than 70 countries around the world. Sergey V. Chemezov is the CEO (General Director) of the corporation. Rostechnologii generated RUB  1.55 billion in net earnings in 2011, paying RUB 100 billion in federal, regional and local taxes.
www.rostec.ru

For additional information, please contact:
Press Service, Russian Technologies State Corporation
Antonina Grobanova, Tel.: +7(967)053-85-68, agribanova@apostolmedia.ru

AVTOVAZ OJSC
AVTOVAZ is the largest Russian automaker, producing cars under LADA and Nissan brands. The company owns one of the world’s biggest car assembly plants in Tolyatti and a plant in Izhevsk. AVTOVAZ is planning to manufacture approximately 1.4 million LADA, Renault and Nissan cars per annum by 2015.

For additional information, please contact:
AVTOVAZ Press Center
Alexander Shmygov, Tel.: +7 (8482) 73-7171, press@vaz.ru
www.lada.ru