State-backed Japan Investment Corp (JIC) sees potential for more mergers and acquisitions in high-end corners of the chipmaking industry following its planned $6.4 billion buyout of materials maker JSR, the head of its private equity arm said. The comments from JIC Capital CEO Shogo Ikeuchi signal a potential shakeup of an industry critical to everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence that is a lynchpin of economic security in the world's third-largest economy. "We see potential in some speciality materials markets where JSR can win dominant positions by combining with other materials makers," Ikeuchi said in an interview.