Japan Investment Corp in $7 bln deal talks with chipmaker JSR -Nikkei

JSR

23/06/2023 18:54

June 24 (Reuters) - State-backed Japan Investment Corp
is in talks to buy the country's top chipmaker, JSR Corp
 4185.T , for about 1 trillion yen ($6.96 billion), the Nikkei
reported on Saturday.
    The fund aims to make a tender offer as early as this year
after clearing the buyout with domestic and foreign antitrust
authorities, the report said. 
    If the deal goes through, JSR would delist from the Tokyo
Stock Exchange as soon as 2024, according to Nikkei. 
    The company, which was set up in 1957 as a government-backed
synthetic rubber maker, now supplies photoresists to global
chipmakers. They are used to transfer circuit patterns on to
semiconductor wafers.
    To purchase JSR, JIC intends to establish a new company with
500 billion yen in capital, while Mizuho Bank will provide
another 400 billion yen in finance. 
    The fund plans to raise 100 billion yen via preferred shares
and subordinated loans underwritten by various banks, according
to Nikkei.
    The deal would grant JSR, with its significant 30% share of
the global photoresist market, greater freedom for expansion,
without being constrained by worries about stock market
performance, Nikkei said.
    
($1 = 143.7800 yen)

 (Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
 ((Riya.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))