Chipmaker Renesas Makes Plans For Autonomous Vehicles With $6.7 Billion Deal

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Renesas, a semiconductor firm based in Japan, has announced that it is acquiring Integrated Device Technology (IDT), a US chip company, in a $6.7 billion transaction. The firm is one of the leading world suppliers of chips for the automotive industry, and with this deal it is making big moves to become pioneers of autonomous vehicles.

The company’s primary focus is on semiconductor products – producing microprocessors and circuits – and more than half of its revenue comes from automotive tech. IDT develops power management and memory, and by joining this technology with Renesas’ existing expertise, it will be in excellent position to develop vehicles with high levels of streaming and interaction.

The deal is set to close in early 2019, setting Renesas up with the know-how to dive into the world of self-driving technology, robotics, data centers, and various types of connected devices. The Japan-based company has already demoed tech for autonomous cars, putting itself into competition with Intel, which has been working on autonomous and connected vehicles and the resulting passenger economy for a while, recently founding the Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC).

IDT shares will be acquired at $49 per share, and Renesas will finance the transaction with cash reserves and bank loans. Last year, the company acquired Intersil, paying $3.2 billion for the US company devoted to developing power management tech, such as the ability to control battery voltage in hybrid and electric vehicles. Renesas expects that after this latest deal with IDT comes to a close, the company will reap more than $80 million of cost savings after two years.

“This acquisition will bring us complementary, market-leading analog mixed-signal assets and an incredibly talented group of professionals to help us boost our embedded solution capabilities,” stated Bunsei Kure, Representative Director, President and CEO of Renesas. “IDT’s products combined with our MCUs, SoCs and power management ICs will enable Renesas to widen its product offerings as well as to expand its reach into areas such as the growing data economy-related space.”


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Erika Clugston

Erika is a writer and artist based in Berlin. She is passionate about sharing stories of climate change and cleantech initiatives worldwide. Whether it’s transforming the fashion, food, or engineering industries, there’s an opportunity and responsibility for us all to do better. In addition to contributing to CleanTechnica, Erika is the Web and Social Media Editor at LOLA Magazine and writes regularly about art and culture.

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