Private equity is sniffing around Renesas, according to Japan's Yomiuri newspaper.Private equity companies KKR and Silverlake, which made the ill-fated takeover bid for NXP back in 2006, are reported to be in talks about investing 'several tens of billions of yen' in the ailing Japanese chip-maker.
Meanwhile Renesas' two major shareholders in the company, Hitachi and Mitsubishi, are said to be willing to provide $630m help to Renesas after it lost $800m last year.It is uncertain whether Renesas' third major shareholder, NEC, will provide assistance.Renesas is said to need about $1.3bn to carry out a restructuring plan losing up to 12,000 employees.
It is said that Renesas will be forced to consolidate, cutting its manufacturing plants down to nine or ten - half the number it is currently running. Currently it has 19 factories in Japan and six in other countries.It has even been suggested that Renesas should scrap all its businesses except automotive microcontrollers.