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Japan: Western Digital to consider Toshiba for chip unit bid

By  |  April 20, 2017

Western Digital, the US partner of Toshiba in a semiconductor venture, is in talks with Japanese government-backed investors and would consider a joint bid with them for the chip business, a senior official said on Thursday.

“We want to find a way to ensure we are aligned with INCJ and DBJ,” Mark Long, chief financial officer, told Reuters in an interview, referring to state-backed fund Innovation Network of Japan and the Development Bank of Japan.

Teaming up the government-backed players would give Western Digital a big advantage as it would represent a government stamp of approval.

But another US bidder, chipmaker Broadcom, is also in talks with INCJ and DBJ for a joint bid, sources said potentially vying with Western Digital for government backing.

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