News of the possible move, reported by the Nikkei business daily, comes as Renesas is looking to strengthen its business in chips for self-driving cars.
If the acquisition does take place it would be one of the largest made by Renesas, which has seen a remarkable turnaround since having to be bailed out by the Japanese government five years ago, and would follow the company’s acquisition of Intersil, for $3.2billion, in February last year.
The company has yet to respond.