Renesas shareholders approve $630 mn in aid

Major shareholders of Renesas Electronics have agreed in principle to provide the ailing Japanese chip maker with a 50-billion yen ($630-million) support package, a report said Wednesday. Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric will lend about 32 billion yen, while NEC will provide around 20 billion yen through measures such as granting the firm a moratorium on payments, Kyodo News reported. Renesas hopes to announce the measures after the three top shareholders' board meetings, the report said, citing sources close to the matter. In addition to shareholder support, the loss-making firm's four main banks are to use an exiting credit line to provide 50 billion yen in loans, Kyodo said. The financial aid is to help the firm push through a major restructuring, which will reportedly see it cut up to 14,000 jobs, about one-third of its workforce. Renesas, which lost 62.6 billion yen in the year to March, has previously declined to comment on reports about the support package, or about job cuts. Japan's microchip industry has struggled amid a strong yen and fierce competition, especially from South Korean and Taiwanese rivals, while manufacturers were also hit by last year's quake-tsunami disaster.