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Japanese electronics and technology maker Toshiba has accepted a 2 trillion yen ($15 billion) takeover bid from a buyout fund made up of the country’s biggest banks and companies.
Japan Industrial Partners was established in 2002 to restructure Japanese companies. Companies it has invested in include Sony, Hitachi, Olympus and NEC.
Toshiba announced late Thursday that its board of directors accepted the offer at 4,620 yen ($36) per share. Toshiba closed at 4,213 yen ($32) per share and is trading at 4,474 yen ($34) early Friday.
The offering is the latest chapter in the company’s turnaround effort, allowing it to go private and delist from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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Toshiba Corp. logo can be seen on February 19, 2022 in a company building in Kawasaki near Tokyo. Scandal-plagued Japanese electronics and technology maker Toshiba has announced a 2 trillion yen ($15 billion) takeover bid by Japan Industri… ((AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File) / AP Newsroom)
Overseas activist investors own a significant portion of Toshiba’s shares, and it’s unclear if they’ll be happy with the latest offering.
If the deal is successful, it will keep Toshiba’s business Japanese in an alliance with Japanese partners.
According to Japanese media reports, the consortium includes around 20 Japanese companies, including Orix Corp., a financial services company, electronics manufacturer Rohm Co. and megabanks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Toshiba has dealt with controversies for years, beginning with an accounting scandal in 2005.
Its US nuclear arm Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after years of deep losses due to rising security costs.
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This image, taken in Tokyo, features a Toshiba Corp. logo. seen on a printed circuit board. (Portal/Yuriko Nakao / Portal Photos)
Toshiba is also involved in decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Toshiba has gone through several presidents over the years.
The latest proposal still has to go through regulatory reviews in several countries, including the US, Vietnam, Germany and Morocco.
This process is expected to take several months.
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Toshiba Corp. logo can be seen on a company building in Kawasaki near Tokyo. ((AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File) / AP Newsroom)
Toshiba has tried to go private in recent years. Proposals to split Toshiba into three and then two companies were rejected by shareholders.
The company first received a takeover bid from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in April 2021, which was subsequently rejected for lack of details.
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOSBF | TOSHIBA CORP. | 34.8 | +2.80 | +8.75% |
Japan Industrial Partners’ interest in Toshiba was first announced last October.
Last month, Toshiba lowered its profit forecast for the fiscal year to 130 billion yen ($1 billion) from a previous forecast of 190 billion yen ($1.5 billion).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.