- By Mariko Oi
- Business reporter
September 21, 2023, 03:30 BST
Updated 17 minutes ago
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Toshiba is one of Japan’s oldest and largest companies
Toshiba, one of Japan’s oldest and largest companies, is about to end its 74-year stock market history as a group of investors acquired a majority stake.
The company announced that a consortium led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) has acquired 78.65% of its shares.
Owning more than two-thirds of the company allows the group to strike a $14bn (£11.4bn) deal to take it private.
The company’s roots date back to 1875, when it manufactured clocks and mechanical dolls.
As part of the deal, the shares could be delisted as early as the end of this year.
The company “will now take a major step toward a new future with a new shareholder,” Toshiba President and CEO Taro Shimada said in a statement.
Trading in Toshiba shares began in May 1949, when the Tokyo Stock Exchange reopened as Japan emerged from the devastation of World War II (WWII).
Its businesses range from home electronics to nuclear power plants and have been a symbol of the country’s economic recovery and its technology industry for decades after World War II.
In 1985, Toshiba released what it called “the world’s first mass-market laptop.”
Image source: Getty Images
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For decades after World War II, Toshiba was a symbol of Japan’s economic boom and its high-tech industry
However, the Tokyo-based company has suffered a number of major setbacks in recent years.
“Toshiba’s disaster is a consequence of inadequate corporate governance at the top,” Gerhard Fasol, chief executive of management consultancy Eurotechnology Japan, told the BBC.
In 2015, the company admitted to overstating its profits by more than $1 billion over six years and paid a fine of 7.37 billion yen (US$47 million; £38 million ), which was the highest fine in the country’s history at the time.
To avoid bankruptcy, the company sold its memory chip business in 2018, which was considered the crown jewel of the company’s portfolio.
“Toshiba is a national treasure in the eyes of many Japanese people and especially the government, which is part of the problem,” Mr. Fasol said.
Before the new demerger plan was implemented, the company’s board said it was considering JIP’s offer to take the company private.