TOKYO: Japan’s Sony Group Corp. and some other existing shareholders will make additional investments in Rapidus Corp., which aims for domestic production of next-generation semiconductors, sources said Friday.
The shareholders will act in step with financial institutions and the central government so that the Tokyo-based chipmaker can secure the necessary funds to start mass production of the semiconductors as early as 2027.
Hoping to raise 100 billion yen from the private sector for the project, Rapidus asked its shareholders whether they would make additional investments. The deadline for response was Friday.
Besides Sony Group, NEC Corp., Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Kioxia Corp., MUFG Bank, Toyota Motor Corp., SoftBank Corp. and Denso Corp. invest in Rapidus. Their investments total 7.3 billion yen.
Some of them, including Sony Group, NEC, NTT and MUFG Bank, are expected to make additional investments.
In the financial sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Mizuho Bank and the government-linked Development Bank of Japan are considering newly becoming Rapidus shareholders. The expected investments from the three lenders plus MUFG Bank are seen reaching up to 25 billion yen.
The anticipated investments by the financial and nonfinancial companies are likely to be made as early as 2025.
Rapidus will also call on nonfinancial companies other than existing shareholders to invest in the chipmaker.
A total of 5 trillion yen is considered necessary for Rapidus to mass-produce the next-generation semiconductors. The government is working to prepare legislation to provide financial support for the project.
JIJI Press