Renault to sell Nissan stake of about 2.5%

PARIS (Reuters) -Renault plans to sell a stake of about 2.5% in Nissan shares to the Japanese car maker in a deal that could result generate up to 362 million euros ($392 million), the French firm said on Wednesday.

The share sale is its second as Renault looks to cut its Nissan stake to 15% from around 43% as the two firms reshape their longstanding partnership.

Renault sold a 5% stake in Nissan back to the Japanese company in December.

The latest sale of up to 100,242,900 Nissan shares are part of the 24.63% in Nissan's capital that Renault has put into a French trust.

The sale will be implemented as part of a share buyback programme announced by Nissan, Renault said.

"This transaction will allow faster deleveraging and supports the group's determination to return to an investment grade rating," Renault said in a statement.

Renault has the right to sell a further 180,447,100 Nissan shares that were offered but have not been bought back by the Japanese firm to third parties during a 180-day period.

As part of an agreement last year to reduce their alliance, Renault and Nissan aim to have cross-shareholdings of 15%.

($1 = 0.9240 euros)

(Reporting by GV De Clercq and Dominique Patton, editing by Inti Landauro)