Renesas Electronics Corp. (TSE: 6723, Renesas) and J-Devices Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the transfer of the semiconductor back-end production business of three facilities operated by Renesas’ wholly owned manufacturing subsidiaries (the Hakodate Factory of Renesas Northern Japan Semiconductor, Inc. (Renesas Northern Japan), the Fukui Factory of Renesas Kansai Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (SKS), and the Kumamoto Factory of Renesas Kyushu Semiconductor Corp. (Renesas Kyushu)) and Renesas Northern Japan’s wholly owned subsidiary, Hokkai Electronics Co., Ltd. (Hokkai Electronics) to J-Devices.
This proposed transaction “aims at building a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between the two companies as strategic partners in the semiconductor production business.” According to a press release. The two companies plan to negotiate a final agreement and to complete the transfer in early June 2013.
The current employees of the transferred facilities will be “on loan” to J-Devices for a set period, under the premise that they will be reassigned to J-Devices on the basis of individual agreements in future. The Renesas products which will be manufactured at the facilities to be transferred will continue to be supplied by Renesas to customers with the quality, delivery schedules, service equal to or better than before even after the transfer.
In addition to the current seven facilities of J-Devices (Usuki, Oita Prefecture (Headquarters); Kitsuki, Oita Prefecture (Headquarters functions); Shibata-gun, Miyagi Prefecture; Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture; Miyawaka, Fukuoka Prefecture; Oita, Oita Prefecture; and Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture), the present transfer will add an additional three production facilities. This will make J-Devices one of the world’s top five OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) service providers.
At the same time, the advantages gained as a long-term strategic partner of Renesas, including larger business scale, fusion of technical capabilities, and expanded product lineup, will enable J-Devices to improve cost competitiveness, technical capabilities, and product quality, allowing it to contribute to the continued development of the semiconductor industry as a world-top-level OSAT service provider and also providing substantial benefits for customers.
Renesas Electronics Corp. lays claim as world’s number one supplier of microcontrollers, and also offers SoC solutions and a range of analog and power devices. Business operations began as Renesas Electronics in April 2010 through the integration of NEC Electronics Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp., with operations spanning research, development, design and manufacturing for a wide range of applications. Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics has subsidiaries in 20 countries worldwide. More information can be found at .
J-Devices is one of the largest independent semiconductor assembly and test company in Japan with seven factories in Japan. The original company (named Nakaya Microdevices) was established in 1970 and offers a broad lineup of packages including thermally enhanced BGA, CMOS sensor, leadframe and other original packages. J-Devices offers skilled package development as well as the full turnkey "one stop" service such as wafer sort, assembly, and final testing for consumer and automotive product.