Deal Counters Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Bid
The deal announced Monday was reportedly put together to counter an investment bid from U.S.-based Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, over fears about a key supplier of electronic parts to Japanese industry falling into foreign hands.
The government-backed INCJ will buy about 138 billion yen of the new shares, giving it about two-thirds of Renesas, while the group of eight firms will pick up about 12 billion yen in shares combined, Renesas said.
Renesas announced earlier this year it would cut thousands of jobs and reorganize domestic production to concentrate on its mainstay businesses.
Renesas has said it would boost outsourcing of its chip production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., including a bigger share of its output of microcontrollers -- key components in vehicles and home appliances.
Japan's chip sector has seen a major shakeup, with U.S.-based Micron Technology (IW 1000/436) in July unveiling a deal to buy troubled Japanese rival Elpida Memory for $2.5 billion
Elpida, one of the world's top microchip makers, was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange earlier this year in the biggest corporate failure in Japanese manufacturing history.
The troubled firm, which had stayed alive thanks to a 2009 government-backed rescue plan, filed for bankruptcy protection in late February.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
