State-backed Japan Investment Corp will join hands with Dai Nippon Printing and Mitsui Chemicals to buy out Shinko Electric Industries for more than 800 billion yen ($5.5 billion), Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
The consortium, which is set to gain preferred bidder status to acquire the chip packaging unit of Fujitsu, will announce its tender offer bid as soon as this week, the report said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended trading in shares of Shinko Electric after the report. Its shares closed up 5.5% at 5,528 yen on Tuesday.
A JIC spokesperson declined to comment on individual cases.
Fujitsu’s offer to sell its 50% stake in Shinko Electric had drawn interest from global buyout firms Bain Capital, KKR and Apollo Global Management, sources had told Reuters earlier. Trading firm Mitsubishi Corp was also considering a bid, separate sources had said.
Semiconductor packaging remains an area of strength for Japan, with Shinko, Ibiden and Toppan Holdings all major players in the global chip supply chain.
Japan has designated chips as “specified critical materials”, spending billions of dollars as subsidies to boost its ability to produce advanced chips and to maintain its edge as a maker of materials and manufacturing tools.
Reuters