Mitsubishi Electric, Rohm and Toshiba explore merger of power chip businesses

Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric and Rohm said they are exploring a merger of their power semiconductor businesses; Rohm said the combined entity would rank second in the power device market behind Infineon.

Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric and Rohm said they are exploring a possible merger of their power semiconductor businesses. The companies described the plan as an effort to create a business with greater scale and technology to serve customers across industries. Rohm said the merged entity would rank second in the power device market behind Infineon Technologies and could deliver synergies in AI server and data-center markets. The firms also said they expect to set up an operating company but have not settled on detailed structure. Key facts: - The three Japanese companies announced talks to explore integrating their power-device businesses. - Rohm stated the combined business would rank second in the power device market, behind Infineon Technologies. - The companies expect to establish an operating company for the integrated power-device units, but detailed structure has not been determined. - Rohm said the integration could yield significant synergies in artificial-intelligence server and data-center markets. - Mitsubishi Electric's move follows a recent takeover bid for Rohm by auto-parts supplier Denso; Rohm generates roughly half of its revenue from automotive, and Toyota was Denso's largest shareholder with a 22% stake as of September. Summary: The proposed integration is presented as a way to strengthen scale and technology in the competitive power semiconductor sector. Undetermined at this time.