Renesas to Buy U.S. Chipmaker IDT

September 11, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp. said Tuesday that it will acquire U.S. industry peer Integrated Device Technology Inc. for 6.7 billion dollars.

Renesas plans to complete the acquisition by June 2019, after necessary procedures, including approval from shareholders of San Jose, California-based IDT.

"The acquisition is estimated to push up Renesas' operating profit by 250 million dollars in the long term," Bunsei Kure, president and chief executive officer at the Japanese company, said at a press conference in Tokyo.

"We want to achieve further growth" by combining Renesas' products with IDT's unique products, he said.

Renesas has been aiming to strengthen its operations for in-vehicle semiconductor products, whose demand is expected to grow for use in autonomous driving and electric vehicles.

As IDT has strength in designing and developing semiconductors for communications devices, Renesas believes that the acquisition will bring complementary effects on its product lineups and help expand its overseas operations.

Renesas also plans to launch full-fledged operations for products used at data centers.

The Japanese company plans to take in 679 billion yen in fresh loans from main creditor banks to help finance the acquisition.

Renesas has been active in mergers and acquisitions in recent years. In February 2017, the company acquired Intersil Corp., a U.S. maker of automotive chips, for 3,219 million dollars. Jiji Press