France not prepared to sell Renault shares to Nissan: finance ministry

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government is not prepared to accept Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn's reported proposal to let Nissan buy the French state's stake in carmaker Renault, an official at the French finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Ghosn has proposed a closer tie-up between the two carmakers that would see the Japanese company buy the bulk of the French state's 15 percent Renault holding, people close to the matter told Reuters earlier.

"We totally deny that the French state is prepared to sell its shares to Nissan," the finance ministry official told Reuters.

The official, who declined to be named, added that the government was against the idea of a Dutch foundation for the merged group's future base.

"For the government, a Dutch foundation is not an option," the official said.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost, writing Michel Rose)