It always looked the most likely outcome, and the story had not been confirmed by the time we went to press, but Friday’s edition of the Nippon Keizai Shimbun carried a story that Hitachi Ltd was negotiating to buy the National Advanced Systems division of National Semiconductor Corp, and was negotiating around prices between $250m and $400m. According to the Japanese business daily, the deal is close to completion, but Hitachi was declining to make any comment ahead of an announcement. National Advanced Systems markets Hitachi-built IBMulators and peripherals, and has been under increasing pressure in the US market as the yen soared and Hitachi stuck to its transfer prices although it did finally relent and cut these 10% late last month.
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