NEC Electronics Corporation, Renesas Technology Corp., NEC Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation have agreed to enter into negotiations to integrate business operations at NEC Electronics and Renesas.

NEC Electronics was established in 2002, separating from NEC, and Renesas was established in 2003, integrating semiconductor units at Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric.

NEC Electronics and Renesas have agreed to explore the possibility of business integration in order to further strengthen their business foundations and technological assets while increasing corporate value through enhanced customer satisfaction.

The new integrated company will have three major product groups, MCUs, SoCs, and discrete products, and will become the world's third-largest semiconductor business. The new company will select and focus on the development of projects covering a diverse range of fields and will expand its comprehensive line-up of globally competitive products.

The preconditions for holding future negotiations are to integrate business operations on April 1, 2010, and to maintain public listing for the new company.

The new company will announce the company name, the location of its headquarters, the corporate representative, the board members, capitalization, total assets, and financial forecasts following the integration.

NEC Electronics and Renesas plan to sign an agreement at the end of July, 2009 to integrate their business operations. The dates and details of the extraordinary general meetings of shareholders for NEC Electronics and Renesas to consider approval of the integration are to be announced following the signing of the agreement.

Implementation of the planned business integration is conditional upon authorization of the integration by the relevant government agencies.