Denso president expects strong synergies from proposed Rohm buyout
Denso says a planned Rohm acquisition could unlock major tech synergies as it targets growth in chips, AI-driven manufacturing and new markets by 2030.
- Denso's president, Shinnosuke Hayashi, believes the proposed acquisition of chipmaker Rohm will produce substantial synergy effects due to the two companies' "technical affinity."
- The synergy would involve leveraging Denso's mobility-related technologies in the semiconductor business, which Denso considers a key growth field.
- As part of its long-term plan, Denso aims to apply in-vehicle chip technology to industrial and consumer equipment.
- The deal faces uncertainty as Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric are also approaching Rohm about a potential three-way business integration, creating competition for Denso's bid.
Major auto parts supplier Denso Corp.'s proposed acquisition of chip giant Rohm Co. will produce substantial synergy effects, Denso President Shinnosuke Hayashi believes.
"Synergy effects would be great thanks to (the two Japanese companies') technical affinity," Hayashi told a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday (March 31).
Highlighting the semiconductor business as a growth field, Hayashi expressed his eagerness to leverage Denso's mobility-related technologies and knowledge in the new field.
The same day, the company released its business plan through fiscal 2030 setting the floor targets of 8-trillion-yen sales and a 10 pct operating profit margin.
To achieve those goals, the medium-term plan calls for applying in-vehicle chip technology to industrial and consumer equipment and enhancing productivity by integrating artificial intelligence and manufacturing.
"We have an extra 2 trillion to 4 trillion yen to spend" on strategic investments and own share buybacks, Executive Vice President Yasushi Matsui said at the news conference.
But at a time when semiconductors are playing crucial roles in the auto industry, which is striving to electrify vehicles and capitalise on AI, Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. are approaching Rohm about three-way power device business integration, casting uncertainty over Denso's bid for the chipmaker.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
