Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

Toshiba's looking for a white knight, not a chip-fryer – report

Part-sale of flash biz to fund nuclear power station losses

In its attempts to sell a flash memory business stake to offset multibillion-dollar writedowns in its US nuclear power station business, Toshiba is leaning towards private equity and away from chip industry players.

That would mean foundry partner WD is left out in the cold. Any proposed WD investment could excite industry regulators to mount an anti-competitive investigation, which would take too long to be complete by Toshiba's March deadline.

Reuters reports that possible bids from WD, Micron and SK Hynix are being downgraded in favour of bids from Bain Capital and other private equity institutions which would not raise regulators' hackles. Up for sale is a near-20 per cent stake in Toshiba's NAND business.

Reuters mentions the possibility of Chinese groups – such as Tsinghua Unigroup, which is highly active in Chinese flash production developments – being interested in buying into Toshiba.

Any private equity investor may want a degree of influence over the direction of Toshiba's flash fab business so as to safeguard its investment. A sub-20 per cent stake may not normally provide such board-level influence, which would make for interesting negotiations. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like