Bain-SK Hynix group ups bid for Toshiba chip unit to US $22bil
TOKYO: A group including Bain Capital and South Korea’s SK Hynix has raised its offer for Toshiba Corp’s chip business to 2.4 trillion yen (US $22.3bil) including a 200 billion yen investment in infrastructure, sources said.
The offer by the consortium, which is led by the US private equity group and the South Korean chipmaker as well as Japanese statebacked investors, was higher than an initial offer of around 1.94 trillion yen, according to the sources who requested anonymity because the talks were confidential.
Bain and SK Hynix representatives were not immediately available for comment, while Toshiba declined to comment on details of the deal negotiations.
The move comes after sources said Western Digital Corp, which was part of a competing group in final-stage talks with Toshiba, had revised its offer.
The sources said the US company would take a step back from the initial financing consortium to address Toshiba’s concerns that a Western Digital stake could lead to prolonged anti-trust reviews.
It was unclear what its latest offer was, but sources previously said it was offering around 1.9 trillion yen.
Toshiba is desperate to sell the unit and cover billions of liabilities at its US nuclear unit Westinghouse. Last week it said it was considering three competing offers including one led by Taiwan’s Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn.
All three bidder groups have roped in Apple Inc to bolster their offers, sources have said.