A Japanese state-backed corporate turnaround fund and U.S. investment fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts may form a consortium with several Japanese firms to bid for Toshiba Corp.'s chip subsidiary, sources said Wednesday.
A consortium of the Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, the state-owned Development Bank of Japan and KKR plans to offer ¥1.8 trillion for Toshiba Memory Corp. in the second round of bidding next month. The group hopes to raise the amount through the participation of Japanese firms, the sources said without giving specifics.
Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which last year bought Japanese display maker Sharp Corp., submitted the highest bid of nearly ¥3 trillion for the Toshiba unit in the first round, according to other sources.
Toshiba needs to raise money by selling the chip business to deal with a severe financial crisis caused by losses at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co., but the government is concerned about Toshiba's technology being lost to overseas buyers and countries.