Hitachi Kokusai Electric poised to be acquired by KKR – sources

25 April 2017 – Tokyo, Japan-based Hitachi Kokusai Electric (HKE) [TYO:6756] is poised to be acquired by private equity firm KKR, sources briefed on the situation said.

The deal announcement could come as early as this week and follows prolonged talks regarding deal structure and pricing. KKR plans to acquire Hitachi’s [TYO:6501] 50.43% stake and launch a tender offer for the remaining stake, they noted.

HKE has a market capitalization of about JPY 254.10bn (USD 2.3bn).   

This news service exclusively reported at the end of February that KKR was closing in on the deal to acquire HKE, and that the deal could be announced as early as March. At the time, sources noted there were other interested parties following the second-round bids and that the situation remained fluid. KKR is being advised by Citi, as reported by this news service.

In October 2016, this news service reported that Hitachi and HKE had retained Credit Suisse and Nomura, respectively, as sellside advisors to identify buyers for Hitachi’s stake in HKE or its semiconductor fabrication unit. Depending on the offers received, either scenario could be likely, as reported.

This news service flagged as early as October 2015 that private equity firms, including Carlyle and KKR, were keen to acquire HKE.

HKE is engaged in semiconductor manufacturing equipment as well as video and wireless network solutions. Revenues are almost equally split between these two businesses.

Hitachi, HKE, and KKR declined to comment….

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