Toshiba enters chip sales talks with US, S Korea, Japan consortium

TOKYO: Toshiba said on Wednesday it will hold exclusive talks with a consortium of US, South Korean and state-backed Japanese investors to sell its prized memory chip business, as the loss-hit conglomerate scrambles to raise cash.

The company needs money after taking massive losses in its US nuclear operations that have put the survival of a pillar of corporate Japan in doubt.

Toshiba’s board decided to select the consortium as a “preferred bidder”, it said in a statement.

The group’s joint bid, which is reportedly worth more than 2 trillion yen ($18 billion), is “the best proposal, not only in terms of valuation, but also in respect to certainty of closing, retention of employees, and maintenance of sensitive technology within Japan”, Toshiba added.

The bidding group is comprised of the public-private Innovation Network Corp of Japan, the statebacked Development Bank of Japan, and US private equity fund Bain Capital, it said. South Korean chip giant SK Hynix will participate as a lender in the deal.

Toshiba is aiming to finalise a sale by its June 28 shareholders’ meeting, and close any agreement by March next year, “upon clearance of all the required processes, including competition law approvals in key jurisdictions,” it said.

The sale of the memory chip business, seen as key for cashstrapped Toshiba’s turnaround, still faces hurdles as US chip factory partner Western Digital tries to block the sale with a court injunction.

Toshiba “has no right to transfer its JV interest to a third party without” consent of Western Digital’s subsidiary SanDisk, it said in a statement. — AFP