After Western Digital Corporation put a hold onto the sale of Toshiba’s chip business, they are now leading the consortium who is looking to close a deal.
Reuters reported that “a consortium led by San Jose, California-based Western Digital is close to clinching a 1.9 trillion yen ($17.4 billion) deal.” This deal is said to win antitrust approval which means that a deal can be concluded quickly. Toshiba reportedly needs to sell the $17 billion (€14.12 billion) chip business unit soon to solve the business’ money problems.
According to the article published by Reuters “The deal still has a heavy Japanese component, to allay political concerns about control over high-tech assets. The Development Bank of Japan and the Innovation Network Corp of Japan will both put in 300 billion yen, matching KKR’s original planned contribution. Such a set-up could allow Toshiba to buy back in later, if its fortunes improve. Japanese banks and companies will also supply financing.”
According to Reuters the deal is struck in a way that “Western Digital will contribute 150 billion yen via convertible bonds, meaning no upfront equity and thus no long competition review (…)” which should allow for the deal to go through quicker.