Denso Retracts Proposal to Acquire Rohm

Nagoya, April 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese auto parts maker Denso Corp. said Tuesday that it will withdraw its proposal to acquire domestic chipmaker Rohm Co. Denso said in a statement that the company “has not obtained the support of Rohm’s board of directors and special committee with respect to the proposal.” The focus of a reorganization of the country’s power semiconductor industry is now expected to shift to merger talks involving chip operations at Rohm, Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. “We can’t envision a scenario anymore to improve the corporate value of both companies even if we continue discussions,” Denso President and CEO Shinnosuke Hayashi said at a press conference. He added that Denso would continue business cooperation and personnel exchanges with Rohm. Denso, a supplier to Toyota Motor Corp., had offered to acquire Rohm as part of efforts to strengthen its semiconductor business as demand for electric vehicles is expand to grow. But Rohm was cautious about the proposal out of concerns that the acquisition will leave its operations focused too much on automotive chips. Rohm said in a separate statement that the company “has not reached a conclusion to support the proposal” from Denso. Rohm added that it will “sincerely engage in the discussions” with Toshiba and Mitsubishi on chip business integration. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]