© 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry. A compound containing fullerene dimers bonded through two nickel atoms, {Ni(Ph 3 P)} 2 (μ 2 -η 2 ,η 2 -C 60 ) 2 ·2C 6 H 4 Cl 2 (1), has been obtained as single crystals. The fullerenes are neutral in 1, showing a zero-valent state of Ni. The nickel atoms are bonded in an η 2 coordination mode with Ni-C distances of 2.001(3)-2.037(3) Å and a close approach of the fullerenes with a 9.716 Å center-to-center distance. The DFT calculations showed a diamagnetic singlet ground state for this dimer. This journal is