Japanese media: 'Western Digital close to acquiring Toshiba's memory division'

Negotiations between Toshiba and a consortium lead by Western Digital about acquiring Toshiba's memory division are in a late stage, according to the Japanese news site Nikkei.com. The consortium consisting of Western Digital, a private equity firm and two Japanese government backed entities are reportedly willing to buy Toshiba Memory for about $17.3 billion.

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In April it became known that Toshiba was planning to sell its memory division to compensate for losses made by its nuclear division. Several parties were interested, but Western Digital started an arbitration case because  Sandisk, which is previously acquired, was in a NAND flash memory joint venture with Toshiba. Western Digital therefore ruled it would be the best candidate to acquire Toshiba memory unit.

Negotiations between Toshiba and Western Digital seemed to have ended, but it appears the companies are now close to a deal. According to the Nikkei the deal might even be closed before the end of this month.

The $17.3 billion bid from the Western Digital led consortium is lower than the $18 billion Toshiba hoped to receive for its memory division.

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