TOKYO – Toshiba has received a buyout offer from a British private equity fund and will consider the proposal, it said today, with reports suggesting the deal may be worth about US$20 billion (RM82.45 billion).
Trading of Toshiba shares was temporarily halted on Tokyo’s stock exchange at the open, after the Japanese firm confirmed the offer first reported hours earlier by local media.
In a statement, the company said it “received an initial proposal yesterday” by CVC Capital Partners for a buyout deal.
“We will request detailed information and carefully discuss” the offer, it said.
The Nikkei newspaper said CVC is considering a 30% premium over the industrial group’s current share price, valuing the deal at nearly US$20.8 billion based on yesterday’s close.
The financial daily said CVC will consider recruiting other investors to participate in the deal.
The proposal would take Toshiba private, with delisting intended to produce faster decision-making by the management, which has clashed with shareholders recently, said reports.
If successful, the move will allow the firm to concentrate resources on renewable energies and other core businesses, added the media.
Toshiba CEO and president Nobuaki Kurumatani told reporters today that “we received the proposal, but we’ll discuss it in a board meeting”.
Reports suggested that the discussions will begin today, though Toshiba did not immediately specify.
The company has been hit by false accounting scandals and huge losses linked to its United States nuclear unit.
It was forced to sell its profit-making chip sector to make up for the massive losses.
Following a painful restructuring, its earnings rebounded, and the company in January returned to the prestigious first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. – AFP, April 7, 2021
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