Japan's Renesas Electronics announces US$5.91 billion acquisition of well-known PCB design software company Altium

Japanese chip manufacturer Renesas Electronics announced on its official website on February 15 that it will acquire 100% of the shares of Australian design software provider Altium for US$5.91 billion in an all-cash transaction. After the acquisition is completed, Altium will become A wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics.

It is the largest acquisition of an Australian-listed company by a Japanese buyer to date. Renesas Electronics said in a statement that it will acquire all outstanding shares of Altium for a cash price of A$68.50 per share.

Renesas Electronics said the deal still needs approval from Altium shareholders and an Australian court. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024. Altium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics, will continue to be led by company CEO Aram Mirkazemi.

Altium is a printed circuit board (PCB) design tool provider that provides PC-based electronic design automation (EDA) software for engineers who design printed circuit boards (PCB). It is headquartered in California, USA and listed in Australia.

"This acquisition enables two industry leaders to join forces to create an integrated and open electronic system design and lifecycle management platform that allows collaboration across component, subsystem and system-level designs," Renesas said.