On Thursday, Nissan president Makoto Uchida informed his counterpart, Honda president Toshihiro Mibe, that he was pulling out of merger talks, according to several media reports.

A withdrawal ends months of behind-the-scenes conversations between the two Japanese carmakers. The two auto giants, along with fellow carmaker Mitsubishi Motors, announced in late December that they would explore a merger, possibly creating the world’s third-largest automaker.

Honda, No. 57 on the most recent Global 500 ranking, reported $141.3 billion in revenue for 2023; Nissan, at No. 136, reported $87.8 billion. Together, Honda and Nissan’s combined revenue of $229.1 billion would have pushed them to No. 22 on the 2024 Global 500, just behind JPMorgan. And it would have been the third-largest automaker on the ranking, behind Volkswagen and Toyota.

Yet, Nissan’s future reportedly became the sticking point in negotiations.

Honda, the larger company, had the upper hand from the beginning. In their joint statement announcing the start of merger talks, the two companies revealed that Honda would nominate the head of the merged company, and appoint the majority of its board members.

Source: FORTUNE