Nissan to buy back shares for up to $3.5 bn

Japanese car maker Nissan said on Friday it will buy back up to 400 billion yen ($3.5 billion, 3.2 billion euros) worth of its own shares by the end of the year.

The operation, announced after a board meeting, will start on Monday and run until December 22, it said.

The buyback will not lead to any "material change" in the shareholding balance in Nissan's alliance with French partner Renault, it added.

Separately, Renault said that it would sell Nissan shares as part of the programme to maintain its current 43.4-percent stake in Nissan, which in turn owns 15 percent in the French automaker.

"Considering that this buyback programme will create value for all Nissan shareholders, including Renault, the board of directors of Renault approved participating in this transaction," the French company said, adding it had been informed of Nissan's decision on Friday.

Renault-Nissan alliance chief executive Carlos Ghosn said the decision to return cash to shareholders was prompted by the group's strong cash flow position.

"Return to shareholders is one of Nissan's key objectives," he said in the Nissan statement.

Renault-Nissan is the world's fourth-biggest car maker with 8.53 million unit sales in 2015.

The news came after the close of the Tokyo stock exchange on Friday, where Nissan shares ended slightly higher just before the announcement.

On the Paris exchange, which was open, Renault shares were up 4.2 percent at 82.01 euros in mid-afternoon.