Due to a sales slump in the United States and China, Nissan is slashing its annual profit outlook by 70 percent. It has also announced plans of cutting 9,000 jobs and 20 percent of its global manufacturing capacity last week.

To strengthen its financial position, Nissan sold 10.02 percent of Mitsubishi Motors back to Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. This reduces Nissan’s ownership in its fellow Japanese carmaker to 34.07 percent.

Separately, an “activist investor” in the form of Effissimo took on a 2.5 percent stake in Nissan.

Suntera (Cayman), a trustee of ECM Master Fund, was identified as the buyer of the stake in a filing made by Nissan.

ECM Master Fund was cited in an unrelated filing from 2021 as being managed by Effissimo Capital Management, a Singapore-based hedge fund known for buying into distressed companies.

The acquisition evoked a sense of deja vu because Effissimo and Suntera worked on the takeover of Toshiba in 2021. Effissimo became Toshiba’s top shareholder in 2017 when the company was reeling from a massive write-down on its nuclear power business.

The activist investors’ involvement in Nissan fueled a rally in its shares amid speculation the automaker may embark on structural reforms to fix its business.

Effissimo and Suntera were both founded by the disciples of Yoshiaki Murakami, the father of activist investing in Japan.

Starting December 1, Guillaume Cartier, chairperson, Management Committee for AMIEO (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania), will assume an expanded role as chief performance officer (CPO). Cartier will oversee the Japan/ASEAN, AMIEO, and Americas regions, as well as Global Sales and Aftersales. Cartier will continue to report to Makoto Uchida, chief executive officer.

Uchida told investors that the carmaker has been affected “not only by external challenges, but also by our specific issues,” alluding both to the rise of Chinese automakers and Nissan setting overly ambitious sales targets.