Japanese semiconductor company Renesas Electronics Corp. said Thursday it will acquire U.S. software firm Altium Ltd. for about 9.1 billion Australian dollars ($5.9 billion).

Altium provides development tools for designing electronic devices. Under the acquisition deal, Renesas aims to expand sales of its chips to firms that utilize Altium's designing tools, a Renesas spokesperson said.

The Japanese company said it will acquire all outstanding shares of the California-based firm, originally founded in Australia, in the second half of this year, and make Altium a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Renesas said it will take out a new loan as well as utilize cash reserves to finance the deal.

Altium had revenue of $263.3 million and booked a net profit of $66.3 million for the year ended June last year, according to Renesas.

==Kyodo

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