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Taiwanese firm, Taiwan’s Nuvoton Technology Corp, will acquire the business, according to reports in the press
Panasonic is to sell off its semiconductor and chipset manufacturing unit to Taiwan’s Nuvoton Technology Corp, for an estimated $250 million.
A report from Reuters highlighted the fact that Panasonic has already divested the majority of its chip businesses and the latest sale would form part of the company’s ambition to cut its fixed costs by $920 million before March 2022.
Panasonic’s semiconductor and chip business unit designs a range of power management chips that are used in smartphone devices across the world. The deal would include the entirety of its Joint Venture with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor, which operates three manufacturing facilities in Japan. The figure of $250 million does not include the amount that Towers Semiconductor will receive for its 51 per cent stake in the Joint Venture.
Japanese chip set manufacturers are feeling the pinch of a slow down in demand for smartphone handsets and have lost ground to smaller, nimbler firms from Taiwan and South Korea in recent years.
Panasonic has said that the sale will have little effect on its financial performance this year.
The company’s share price rose by 2 per cent to 1,009 yen upon news of the prospective sale.
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