Nuvoton

Panasonic has announced plans to almost completely withdraw from semiconductor business and sell all of its related assets to Taiwan-based Nuvoton Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Winbond Electronics. Under the terms of the deal, Nuvoton will get Panasonic’s semiconductor manufacturing assets, chip & product development units, contracts, and sales assets for about $250 million. Following the transaction, the only semiconductor-related property that Panasonic will have will be its 20% stake in Socionext. Panasonic started its semiconductor business back in 1957 and was once a leading designer and maker of chips. As competition in the industry intensified early this decade, the company adopted an asset light strategy and started to gradually withdraw from both the development and manufacturing of semiconductors. In 2014, it sold a...