Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics announced that it would acquire the electronics design software firm Altium in an all-cash deal worth $5.9 billion, its second deal this month as it works its way through cleaning up device design processes.
Japan chipmaker Renesas to buy software company Altium for $5.9 bln
The deal will see Renesas pay A$68.50 per share for Altium, a 34 percent premium over Altium’s close on Wednesday. Renesas would finance the purchase with bank loans and existing cash, it said.
Altium is a San Diego-based company, listed in Australia, that has become a specialist in digital tools that assist customers in designing printed circuit boards. Renesas wants to use Altium’s experience to help its customers design their own electronics faster—especially in the automotive segment, where most of Renesas’ chips end up.
Renesas CEO Hidetoshi Shibata said the company had to shift gears beyond merely making devices lest it becomes marginalized in the marketplace.
Altium CEO Aram Mirkazemi heralded the agreement as a way to boost execution speed.
The deal was unanimously approved by the boards of directors at both companies but remains subject to approval from Altium shareholders, the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Australia and regulators.
Renesas’ share price fell initially on the news, before clawing back some ground, while Altium’s shares jumped.
The deal has been largely seen as positive by analysts, with its strategic fit and 68 percent premium to Altium shareholders singled out as key reasons.
This is Renesas’s latest move in the semiconductor sector, where it announced its deal to buy California-based power semiconductor company Transphorm earlier this week.
Renesas Electronics was formed in 2010 through the merger of NEC’s chip division and Renesas Technology, itself a merger of the chip operations of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric.
The transaction allows for continuous M&A activity in Japan and a record $56 billion of outbound deals in 2023, which represents a 71 percent year-over-year surge.
The deal won’t have a problem going ahead because Altium’s board agreed unanimously to support the transaction, and investors are offered a significant premium of their shares.
