Japanese semiconductor solutions provider Renesas has agreed to buy California-based Integrated Device Technology (IDT) for $6.7 billion.
The move will leave the company well placed to provide a wide range of products that will be essential to self-driving vehicles.
Renesas is a leading provider of embedded processors, while IDT specialises in sensors, connectivity, and wireless power. Together, the companies’ products are poised to improve performance and efficiency in high-computing electronic systems.
The initiative will see Renesas expand its analog solutions line-up and strengthen its kit solution offerings, which combine its microcontrollers (MCUs), system-on-chips (SoCs), and other products.
Driving change
Renesas has its sights set on the emerging autonomous driving sector, as well as on electric and hybrid vehicles. Its broadened product offerings will play a key part in achieving this growth strategy, the company believes.
IDT’s RF, advanced timing, memory interface, power management, optical interconnect, wireless power, and smart sensor expertise will be central to Renesas’s future standing within the automotive sector.
The industrial and infrastructure segments, with the sweeping changes being introduced by Industry 4.0 (and those to come from 5G), wireless communications, and the wider IoT segment will all play a big part in Renesas’ ambitions too.
“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,” said Bunsei Kure, 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.”
Gregory L Waters, president and CEO of IDT, added:
The combination of Integrated Device Technology’s analog, mixed-signal leadership with Renesas’ world-leading microcontroller and automotive/industrial franchise creates a new global powerhouse.
“The combined company will possess the key capabilities that customers in the modern data economy demand.”
Internet of Business says
The limited overlap between Renesas and IDT product stacks, and their complementary nature, mean the acquisition looks like a sound move. It builds on the purchase of Intersil in February 2017, which brought Renesas greater power management and precision analog capabilities.
With autonomous vehicles requiring a level of technological integration and development not previously required of the automotive sector, Renesas’s ability to offer combined, complementary products will appeal.
More broadly, the growing adoption of IoT technology throughout industry means the market for Renesas’s offerings can only grow, which is reflected in the $6.7 billion valuation of IDT.
• In related news, a £106 million package for projects developing green battery, vehicle and refuelling technology is to be unveiled today by the prime minister at the UK’s first ever Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Summit.
