Japan: Group raises its offer for Toshiba chip unit to US$22b

A group including Bain Capital and South Korea’s SK Hynix had raised its offer for Toshiba’s chip business to ¥2.4-trillion (US$22.3bn).

The offer by the consortium, led by the US private equity group and the South Korean chip maker as well as Japanese state-backed investors, was higher than an initial offer of about ¥1.94-trillion, according to the sources.

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, part of a competing group in final-stage talks with Toshiba, had revised its offer.

Economic Times said the US company would take a step back from the initial financing consortium to tackle Toshiba’s concerns that a Western Digital stake could lead to prolonged antitrust reviews.

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.

Full Content: Economic Times

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