Western Digital Corp. is pitching a fresh proposal to acquire Kioxia Holdings Corp., four years after it lost out on a bid to take over the former Toshiba Corp. chip unit. But the U.S. company’s offer faces familiar hurdles.
Among the challenges: Kioxia’s senior management would prefer going public, officials in the Japanese government are concerned about losing control of a chipmaker, and Chinese regulators are likely to block a U.S. takeover, according to people familiar with the matter. Kioxia plans to file for its initial public offering as soon as next month to capitalize on strong investor demand for chip stocks, said one of the people, asking not to be named because the matter is private.
Western Digital and its bankers have been aggressive in pitching a deal, offering a high price and describing it as a merger, the people said. Bain Capital, which controls Kioxia along with Toshiba, is open to a combination, one person said.