Fujitsu, Panasonic and DBJ to set up new fabless company

Fujitsu Limited, Panasonic Corporation, and Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) have signed a memorandum of understanding in which DBJ will make an investment and provide a line of credit for a new fabless company specializing in system LSI design and development which Fujitsu and Panasonic will jointly establish. Based on the agreement reached so far, Fujitsu, Panasonic and DBJ have agreed that DBJ will make a maximum investment of 20.0 billion yen in equity capital in the new company and will provide a maximum credit line of 10.0 billion yen to the new company. As a result, at the time of the business integration, it is expected that the ratio of voting rights held in the new company by Fujitsu, Panasonic and DBJ will be 40%, 20%, and 40%, respectively. The new company will operate independently. Once the three companies reach an agreement on the details, they are expected to sign a final agreement, aiming for the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2014 ending March 31, 2015. Fujitsu, Panasonic, and DBJ, the three companies scheduled to be the shareholders of the new company, have agreed to name Yasuo Nishiguchi as its CEO. The former president and representative director of Kyocera Corporation. Since retiring from Kyocera, Mr. Nishiguchi has been working in outside director positions for a variety of companies. Plans for the new company include switching to a fabless business model, creating an optimal management structure for the business, integrating open innovation that utilizes outsourcing, and exerting the synergy of both Fujitsu and Panasonic and the resources they possess. In addition, the new company will place priority in technological areas with high growth potential such as cloud computing, big-data, and optical networks as well as in the fields of medical equipment and energy.