Steve Milligan was ready to declare victory. A statement was drafted and a photographer was getting lined up for a handshake ceremony planned in Tokyo. As the brash Silicon Valley executive prepared to announce the biggest deal of his career, a prominent Japanese newspaper ...

With the possibility of providing about $3 billion to Bain Capital, Apple Inc. is playing the role of kingmaker in the battle for Toshiba Corp.’s memory chip business.

Toshiba Corp., seeking to make up for a huge write-down in its nuclear-equipment unit, finally took the drastic step of putting its crown jewel — its chip business — up for sale. Finding a buyer might prove to be even more difficult. The Tokyo-based conglomerate ...