Japanese chipmaker Renesas announced plans to boost its expertise in the autonomous vehicle sector with the acquisition of US-based Integrated Device Technology (IDT) for about $6.7 billion.

Bunsei Kure, president and CEO of Renesas, said: “This acquisition will bring us complementary, market-leading analogue mixed-signal assets and an incredibly talented group of professionals to help us boost our embedded solution capabilities.”

IDT’s know-how in memory interconnect and specialised power management will enable Renesas “to create growth…and to further strengthen its presence in the industrial and automotive segments”, it said in a statement.

The auto sector accounts for more than half of Renesas’ total revenue. It is the second-largest supplier of chips used in cars after NXP Semiconductors, Bloomberg said.

Renesas said it will finance the purchase with JPY679 billion ($6.1 billion) of bank loans and cash, and expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2019 following approvals by IDT shareholders and the relevant regulatory authorities.