Japan's T Capital buys Fujitsu semiconductor memory assets

Fujitsu Semiconductor said in a statement that it would retain a 30% interest in Fujitsu Semiconductor Memory Solution (FSM) “for the time being.”

T Capital is investing through its sixth fund – and first since completing its spin-out from Tokio Marine – which closed on JPY 81bn (USD 773m) in early 2021. The vehicle is 55% larger than its 2017-vintage predecessor. Historically, the GP has targeted companies with USD 10m in EBITDA. However, at the time of the final close, it was seeing more opportunities in the USD 30m-USD 40m EBITDA range.

Succession planning solutions for ageing founders continue to account for the bulk of T Capital’s deal flow – eight of the last 10 investments fit this profile. But FSM represents a second carve-out in 12 months following the acquisition of MicroBiopharm Japan, a contract development manufacturing organisation (CDMO), from Mitsui & Co.

FSM manufactures FeRAM (ferroelectric random access memory) and ReRAM (resistive random access memory), which offer much of the same functionality as flash memory. FeRAM is said to combine the benefits of read-only memory and RAM, while offering fast write speeds, low power consumption, and high read-write cycle endurance.

FSM has been producing FeRAM since 1999 and Fujitsu Semiconductor concluded that independence would enable the company to accelerate the development of next-generation memory solutions. Supply pressures in the global semiconductor industry were also a factor, with raw material prices soaring post-COVID-19 while socio-political uncertainties have intensified competition amongst vendors.

Fujitsu generated JPY 3.59trn in revenue and JPY 266.3bn in operating profit for the 12 months ended March 2021. Semiconductors fall under the device solutions division, which contributed JPY 293.8bn in revenue and JPY 29.8bn in operating profit.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Buyouts
• Industrials
• Technology
• Japan
• semiconductor
• T Capital Partners
• manufacturing