Apple $AAPL #2 may invest billions to keep Toshiba
Post# of 2218
Apr 14, 2017, 7:22am PDT
INDUSTRIES & TAGS Technology
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/...?ana=yahoo
Apple is considering a range of multibillion-dollar options to help keep Toshiba’s flash memory business intact, Bloomberg reports. That might include a partnership investment deal with Foxconn, or a separate deal with Japanese investors. Japanese telecom giant SoftBank is reportedly orbiting the negotiations, and could participate in an Apple-led deal.
Toshiba is eager to sell off part of its flash memory chip business to help keep the company afloat as it deals with billions of dollars of other losses. Roughly 10 companies participated in the first round of the auction, and four finalists emerged: Broadcom, in partnership with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners; SK Hynix; Western Digital and Foxconn, Reuters reports.
Cupertino-based Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) would reportedly take a stake of more than 20 percent in Toshiba’s chip operations, but leave enough equity on the table that Toshiba would retain control of the business. Japanese regulators are reportedly concerned that selling Toshiba’s business to a foreign company would be a potential risk to national security, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reports.
Toshiba is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of flash memory chips behind Samsung, and Apple is eager to keep the supply of iPhone components flowing. Impacts to that supply could mean higher flash memory prices or iPhone production delays.
Toshiba shares have plunged 29 percent in the past three months, following a $6.5 billion writedown related to the company’s U.S.-based nuclear equipment operations division. Shares fell 5 percent on Friday.
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