Toshiba still keen on selling its memory unit

The sale of Toshiba's memory unit failed to close by the end of March but the Japanese firm is still keen on selling the division. The deal to sell the unit to a consortium led by US-based private equity firm Bain Capital was reached in September 2017, but the transaction is no longer urgent as Toshiba managed to secure funding via a $5.4 billion share issue in late 2017.

As such, some of the firm's shareholders are pushing Toshiba to walk away from the transaction. Toshiba says it's awaiting the result of the screening. It expects the deal to close in "April 2018 or later."

The main hurdle to clear remains approval from Chinese antitrust regulators. Amidst the current trade war, there's increasing doubt whether they'll sign off on a deal that benefits one of the US' top private-equity funds.

But as of Friday, "certain conditions relating to required antitrust approvals" had yet to be met, Toshiba said. The deal is now expected to close in "April 2018 or later." It had been aiming for the end of March.

The delay was to some degree expected, a source on the buyer side said. Chinese regulators began an antitrust screening of the sale in early December, and the process typically takes four months.

Via: Nikkei Business Review