Daimler, Renault in talks over equity stakes -FT

SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - German luxury carmaker Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and its French rival Renault (RENA.PA) are in talks about taking equity stakes in each other to forge a long-term cooperation, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Citing two unidentified people briefed on the talks, the FT said the possible alliance would take the relationship beyond the ongoing talks about cooperation in the small cars business. It said the stakes would likely be below 10 percent in each other.

The discussions have been long-running and are still ongoing, the newspaper quoted those people as saying.

Daimler is worth 37 billion euros ($50.6 billion) on the stock market, while Renault is valued at 9.7 billion euros, Reuters data shows.

In December, Renault confirmed talks with Daimler and others about partnerships to cut costs in areas such as engines, transmission platforms, and access to new technologies. [ID:nLDE5BG197] ($1=.7311 Euro) (Reporting by Jan Dahinten; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)