Mercedes-Benz offloads Nissan stake for $325 million: source

STORY: The pension trust of German automaker Mercedes-Benz has sold its stake in Japan's Nissan for just under $325 million.

That's according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

Shares of the Japanese automaker held on to their losses of about 6% from earlier in the session on Tuesday.

That was following Mercedes-Benz's announcement on Monday that it would sell its 3.8% stake.

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The stock was headed for its worst day since July.

The slide in Nissan shares since the news highlights investor scepticism over the company's turnaround prospects.

It's battling tariffs and falling sales in its key markets, the U.S. and China.

And the automaker booked a $535 million loss for the three months ended June.

The source told Reuters that Mercedes-Benz sold its Nissan shares at a nearly 6% discount to Nissan's Monday close.

Nissan declined to comment and Mercedes-Benz said it had no immediate comment beyond its prior statement.

On Monday it said the Nissan stake, which was transferred to its pension assets in 2016, was not of strategic importance. Related Videos

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And described the sale as cleaning out its portfolio.

Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa, who took over in April, has unveiled a turnaround plan to restore profitability.

Late last month he said Nissan was still in the early stages of recovery, but that it was making progress on cost cuts.

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