The definitive agreement to acquire Altium was announced on February 15, 2024.
Renesas says the combination sets the foundation for Renesas and Altium to create an “innovative electronics system design and lifecycle management platform” which will deliver “integration and standardization of various electronic design data and functions and enhanced component lifecycle management, while enabling seamless digital iteration of design processes to increase overall productivity” - and brings “significantly faster innovation and lowers barriers to entry for system designers by reducing development resources and inefficiencies”.
"This is a historical milestone for both Renesas and Altium as we take another important step forward in bringing enhanced user experience for electronics system designers,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas.
“The integrated and open electronics system design and lifecycle management platform we aim to build together will make electronics accessible to broader market, for any enterprises regardless of their size or industry.
“I want to reaffirm that our commitment to upholding data security and compliance of the Altium customers will continue to be our top priority. With the addition of Altium’s design software and cloud platform capabilities, we are excited to change the future of electronics system design with Aram and his industry-leading, talented software engineering team”
With the transaction now closed, Altium is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas, and Altium CEO Aram Mirkazemi - who concurrently serves as CEO of Altium - has assumed the role of Senior Vice President and Head of Renesas’ Software & Digitalization. .
"This is a pivotal moment for Altium and marks the beginning of an exciting future with Renesas,” said Aram Mirkazemi, CEO of Altium. “With Renesas’ support and expertise, we are looking forward to accelerating the cloud-enablement of all industry processes associated with electronics design and development. This will make electronics accessible to a broader market and lay the foundation for software defined products.”
Footnote: Renesas' acquisition of Altium has been effected today by way of a Scheme of Arrangement under Australian law (“Scheme”). Under the terms of the Scheme, Renesas Electronics NSW Pty Ltd, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas, acquired all of the outstanding shares of Altium for A$68.50 in cash per share, for a total equity value of approximately A$9.1 billion (approximately 887.9 billion yen at an exchange rate of 97 yen to the A$). Renesas funded the acquisition through bank loans. As part of the implementation of the Scheme, Altium ordinary shares were suspended from trading on the Australian Securities Exchange at the close of trading on July 19, 2024, and Altium will be removed from the Official List of the Australian Securities Exchange at the close of trading on August 2, 2024.
About Renesas
About Altium
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) is a global software company headquartered in San Diego, California, who are accelerating the pace of innovation through electronics. For over 30 years, Altium has delivered software that maximizes the productivity of PCB designers and electrical engineers. From individual inventors to multinational corporations, more PCB designers and engineers choose Altium software to design and realize electronics-based products than other products.
