Renesas Technology, NEC Electronics Reportedly Agree on Merger by April 2010
April 24, 2009
Japanese semiconductor chipmakers Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics reportedly have reached a basic agreement for merger by April 2010, Reuters reported on April 24. Although details of the deal have not been finalized, it is expected that NEC Electronics, Japan's No. 3 chipmaker in terms of sales, will absorb Renesas, currently Japan's No. 2. With combined annual sales of over 1.24 trillion Yen (US$12.78 billion; US$1=97.01 Yen), the new entity is expected to surpass Toshiba as Japan's biggest chipmaker and rank third globally behind Intel and Samsung Electronics. Major shareholders in the new merged entity are expected to include NEC Corporation which controls a 65% stake in NEC Electronics, as well as Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric, which hold a 55% and 45% stake in Renesas, respectively.