Since its reformation from a JV between failing chip divisions of NEC, Mitsubishi and Hitachi, Renesas Electronics has come a long way and has climbed to become a top semiconductor components supplier for the automotive industry. Adding to its recent acquisitions of German ZMDI and US Intersil in 2015 and 2016, Renesas has acquired US based IDT for US$6.7B to expand its portfolio and position in Germany; as IDT's automotive subsidiary is based out of Germany with strong relationships with premier German auto OEMs. This puts serious pressure on the likes of NXP, ST Micro and others to shop for similar players to become bigger players in this M&A race going on in the semi industry to drive scale. Automotive Semi is a multi-billion dollar opportunity, bigger than smartphones and hence the M&A activity is hot for this sector. – Neil Shah