Toyota other Japanese firms to propose Renesas rescue
Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp’s microcontroller is pictured at the company headquarters in Tokyo, July 3, 2012. — Reuters file picTOKYO, Sept 22 — A rescue of Renesas Electronics is being organised by a consortium of local companies led by Toyota Motor Corp, with the backing of a state-run fund, to counter a bid for the Japanese chipmaker by private equity firm KKR, the Nikkei business daily reported today.
The group wants to invest ¥100 billion (RM4 billion) in Renesas to acquire a majority stake in the company before the end of the year, the Nikkei said, without providing further details on how it obtained the information.
The group, it said, included the government’s Innovation Network Corp, Panasonic Corp, Nissan Motor Co Honda Motor Co, Canon Inc, Fanuc Corp and auto parts makers Denso Corp and Keihin Corp.
KKR is also in talks to invest around ¥100 billion in Renesas, which would be its largest investment in Japan, sources last month told Reuters. That deal would give KKR more than 50 per cent of cash-strapped Renesas, and could speed the pace of its restructuring in the face of sinking prices and aggressive overseas rivals.
It would be among the top 10 biggest private equity investments into the world’s third largest economy.
The competing deal from the Japanese group, which may invite German industrial group Bosch GmbH to join it, would be presented to Renesas shareholders, NEC Corp, Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric Corp next month, the Nikkei said.
Renesas, the world’s leading manufacturer of microcontroller chips used in cars, is laying off 12 per cent of its workforce and plans to sell or consolidate half of its domestic plants. — Reuters
