TOKYO, March 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Rohm, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric will start talks to integrate their semiconductor businesses to form the world's second-biggest power chip group after Infineon, the Nikkei newspaper said on Thursday.
The three Japanese chipmakers may announce the start of the integration talks as early as on Friday, Nikkei reported, adding that this could affect rival Denso's bid to acquire Rohm.
Toshiba declined to comment, while Rohm and Mitsubishi Electric did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
With the integration, the companies aim to enhance cost competitiveness, Nikkei said.
Earlier this month, Toyota Motor supplier Denso had bid for Rohm, less than a year after the two companies agreed to form a strategic partnership in semiconductors with a focus on integrated circuits used in electric vehicles.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Shimizu, Kantaro Komiya and Daniel Leussink; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Arun Koyyur)
