Shares in troubled technology giant Toshiba (TYO:6502) traded up on Thursday, after the group announced it had finalised the sale of one of its businesses to Bain Capital.
The $18 billion deal to sell its computer memory chip business will aim to make up for losses incurred after the failure of its US nuclear business, which plunged the company into financial difficulties towards the end of last year.
The deal was announced by Toshiba and Bain Capital, who are leading a consortium that includes South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc and US buyers of Toshiba chips such as Apple and Dell. However rival bidder Western Digital, who was tipped as the favourite for the deal, is not likely to give up without a fight. In a statement, they said:
“We are disappointed that Toshiba would take this action despite Western Digital’s tireless efforts to reach a resolution that is in the best interests of all stakeholders”.
The sale of Toshiba Memory is likely to boost its finances by 740bn yen after taxes, pulling its out of negative shareholder equity and ensuring it remains a listed entity.
Shares in Toshiba are currently trading up 2.34 percent at 306.00 (1224GMT).
