The size of the bid by a consortium with ties to the Japanese government was not disclosed, but the business is estimated to be worth about $20 billion.
HONG KONG — Toshiba has picked a consortium that includes a government-controlled investment fund as its preferred bidder for the company’s multibillion-dollar microchip business.
Toshiba, the Japanese conglomerate awash in losses from its nuclear unit in the United States, said Wednesday in a news release that a consortium made up of the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan; Bain Capital, the American private equity firm; and the Development Bank of Japan “presented the best proposal.” The size of the bid was not disclosed, but the microchip business is estimated to be worth about $20 billion.
Toshiba said in the news release that considerations included “certainty of closing, retention of employees and maintenance of sensitive technology within Japan.”
Western Digital, an American data storage company that owns part of a Toshiba semiconductor factory in Japan, has also bid on the chip business.
