Toshiba wants to raise as least 1 trillion yen ($8.83 billion) from the sale of a majority stake in its NAND flash memory business.
Toshiba wants to raise at least 1 trillion yen ($8.8 billion) from the sale of a majority stake in its flash memory chip business as a buffer against any fresh financial problems, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
After flagging a $6.3 billion writedown on its U. S. nuclear unit earlier this month, the conglomerate says it is now prepared to sell a majority stake or even all of the NAND memory unit, which makes chips for mobiles and tablets and is its most valuable business. Previously it had planned to sell 19.9 percent .
Toshiba wants to restart the sale process as soon as possible and may sell to multiple buyers rather than one bidder with interest already received from investment funds, other chipmakers and client companies, said the source who was not authorized to talk to the media and declined to be identified.
The sale «is the best and the only way Toshiba can raise a large amount of funds and wipe out concerns about its credit risk,» the source said, adding that the sale should be completed by the end of March next year.
