Japan chip materials maker Resonac looks to chase deals after restructuring

By Sam Nussey and Ritsuko Shimizu

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's Resonac Holdings is looking to make deals after reducing its borrowing and wants to be involved when a state-backed fund exits from peer JSR, the CEO of the chip materials maker said on Wednesday.

"We will go on the offensive from this year," Hidehito Takahashi told Reuters in an interview.

Resonac was formed by Showa Denko's acquisition of the larger Hitachi Chemical and has been selling assets with a partial spin-off of its petrochemical business planned.

Photoresist maker JSR has said it wants to drive consolidation in the industry and was taken private by a state-backed fund last year.

"It's a fund so there will be an exit in the end," said Takahashi, adding he wants to be involved in that exit.

Japan has many leading makers of semiconductor materials and equipment which have survived decades of competition even as the country has lost its prominent position in chip manufacturing.

The market for individual materials is limited and companies need scale for capital investment and research and development, Takahashi said.

Resonac is setting up an R&D centre for advanced semiconductor packaging and materials in Silicon Valley to deepen collaboration with firms there.

The company is not currently considering manufacturing materials in the United States, Takahashi said.

If there was a big increase in demand from customers in the U.S., Takahashi said Resonac would consider factors including potential subsidies and tariffs.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey and Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Christopher Cushing and Sonali Paul)

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