Western Digital to finalise the deal with Toshiba's memory chip buisness

Western Digital Corp’s chief executive is in Tokyo to finalise an agreement to buy Toshiba Corp’s memory chip business, ending months of dispute over the auction , a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on 28 August.

[caption id=“attachment_2347524” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption]

Toshiba is scrambling to sell its flash memory unit to cover losses from its bankrupt US nuclear business Westinghouse.

A group including Western Digital, US private equity firm KKR & Co and Japanese government investors are **offering around 1.9 trillion yen** ($17.3 billion) for the unit, separate sources previously told Reuters. The US firm is offering 150 billion yen through convertible bonds, they said.

The group and Toshiba aim to announce a deal by 31 August when Toshiba’s board meets, other people said on 28 August.

Both Western Digital and Toshiba declined to comment. A KKR representative could not be immediately reached.

Some senior Toshiba executives had initially balked at Western Digital’s offer, but sources said on 25 August that the US firm took a conciliatory tack and decided not to seek a management role in the new business and limit its stake to no more than one-third even when it converts the bonds to equity.

Toshiba and Western Digital are the world’s second and third largest producer of NAND chips.