Renesas Announces Its Acquisition of Altium, Promises to "Make Electronics Accessible"

Renesas has announced its acquisition of electronic design automation (EDA) specialist Altium in a loan-funded deal valued at $5.93 billion, which will see Altium operating as a wholly-owned Renesas subsidiary.

"This is a historical milestone for both Renesas and Altium as we take another important step forward in bringing enhanced user experience for electronics system designers," claims Renesas chief executive officer Hidetoshi Shibata. “The integrated and open electronics system design and lifecycle management platform we aim to build together will make electronics accessible to broader market, for any enterprises regardless of their size or industry."

"This is a pivotal moment for Altium and marks the beginning of an exciting future with Renesas," adds Aram Mirkazemi, Altium's chief executive officer and now head of Renesas' software and digitalization arm. "With Renesas’ support and expertise, we are looking forward to accelerating the cloud-enablement of all industry processes associated with electronics design and development. This will make electronics accessible to a broader market and lay the foundation for software defined products."

Founded in Australia in 1985 by Nick Martin, originally under the name Protel Systems, Altium is best known for the professional electronics design automation (EDA) platform, which bears its name and its simplified, freeware CircuitMaker package that targets hackers and hobbyists. In 2021, the company declined an acquisition offer from EAGLE owner Autodesk, before accepting Renesas' bid in February this year.

Renesas has not telegraphed any impending changes to Altium's offerings as a result of the acquisition.