NEC Electronics, Renesas Technology Corp., NEC Corporation , Hitachi, Ltd., and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to integrate business operations at NEC Electronics and Renesas.

The Business Integration will become effective following the adoption of the resolutions at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of NEC Electronics and Renesas and approval by authorities concerned.

As a condition to the Business Integration, Renesas will issue shares of Renesas common stock to Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric, the sole shareholders of Renesas, in exchange for a total of 78 billion yen before the effective date of the Business Integration. In addition, on the effective date of the Business Integration (scheduled to be April 1, 2010), the integrated company after the Business Integration will issue shares of its common stock to NEC, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi Electric in exchange for a total of approximately 122 billion yen.

Both as leading semiconductor companies, NEC Electronics and Renesas provide a wide variety of semiconductor solutions, primarily specializing in microcontroller units (MCUs). In light of fierce global competition and structural changes triggered by the rapid expansion of emerging markets in the semiconductor market, NEC Electronics and Renesas have been exploring the possibility of the Business Integration after signing a basic agreement on April 27, 2009.

The Integrated Company (Renesas Electronics Corporation) will provide globally competitive products in its three major product groups, MCUs, SoCs, and discrete products, by concentrating its development resources to further strengthen the companies' respective advantages.

In order to address the ongoing challenges of the current economic downturn, NEC Electronics and Renesas will each continue to execute structural reform plans in order to strengthen their business frameworks.