I merged the headline and the first paragraph.
Honda and Nissan have formally agreed to hold talks over the next six months on a possible merger, a deal that would create the world’s third-largest automaker and give them more resources to compete with a growing threat from Chinese carmakers.
But in that case why frame this as a merger instead of a strip down?
Save face and not freak out investors.
Idk, I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of the industry
Mergers are rarely if ever a blending of two equals. Big fish eats little fish. On the rare occasion that a merger tries to preserve the hierarchy, culture, etc of each of the firms it usually ends disastrously.