OKI Data to acquire Renesas LED production line

TOKYO, JAPAN: OKI Data Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp. announced the conclusion of a basic agreement under which OKI Digital Imaging Corp. (ODI) will acquire the land, buildings, and utilities of the former semiconductor front-end process line (Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture) of the Gunma Development Design and Device Division of Renesas Eastern Japan Semiconductor Inc.

OKI Data’s medium-term business plan adopted in FY2008 calls for a doubling of the current level of LED printer sales by FY2011, and to accomplish this, the company must increase the scale of its LED production operations.

ODI is an OKI Data subsidiary that develops and manufactures print heads for LED printers. Development and LED front-end process production work currently take place at ODI’s Hachioji facility. These operations will be transferred to the new facility acquired from Renesas, which will go on-line in its new capacity in April, 2010.

The clean room at the new facility covers approximately twice the area of the clean room presently in use and is built to a high-level degree of cleanliness. Boosting production line efficiency, it is expected that production capacity will be increased fourfold.

This provides additional room for expanding production in response to future business growth. The new plant is also situated near OKI Data’s Takasaki facility, where printer development work takes place. The anticipated shortening in product development time due to this close proximity was a key factor in the decision to make the acquisition.

Renesas is now working to optimize its production structure. As part of this process, the former semiconductor front-end process line of the Gunma Development Design and Device Division of Renesas Eastern Japan Semiconductor was closed in October 2007, due to its limited production capacity. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment had already been removed from the plant, and plans were underway to revitalize it as a clean room facility by transferring it to a new owner.

The present transfer was decided upon after a suitable offer was made by OKI Data. Renesas will continue to move steadily toward the completion of currently planned measures on its production structure, with the aim of further boosting production efficiency.

OKI Data and Renesas plan to complete the transfer procedure by November 30, 2009.