Toshiba has confirmed that has received an offer, worth around 15,000 million of dollars, which in addition to making the company private, may be the first step to end the problems it has had due to its economic situation, as well as several scandals that have occurred over the last few years .
The investment group that has made the offer, the Japanese JIP through its subsidiary JMBH, made a first one at the beginning of this year, which Toshiba considered too low. Since then, Toshiba’s Board of Directors and JIP have been negotiating for the latter to raise the price it was willing to pay for each of its shares. As a result of these negotiations, the price they will pay for each of the company’s titles will be $0.07 higher than in the initial offer. Finally, they will pay $32.27 for each one.
Of course, for the offer to become effective, at least two thirds of Toshiba’s shareholders must give their consent for it. These will have, how could it be otherwise, to sell their titles to JIP, which with its offer will place Toshiba’s valuation at 13,970 million dollars. According to him Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, Akihiro Watanabe, the day of the offer «marks a turning point for Toshiba. The company is coming out of a tunnel after eight years«.
Judging by Watanabe’s optimism, the offer has a good chance of prospering, and if so, its managers hope that it can serve to end and turn around several of the problems that the group has suffered in recent years.
Among them are the consequences of the problems in planning the construction of two nuclear plants in the US, as well as the Fukushima disaster. All this that played a fundamental role in the fall and bankruptcy of its nuclear energy division. This, coupled with various problems with Toshiba’s accounting and governance, have plunged the company into quite a notable crisis.
The possible success of this offer, which will be valid until September 20, is also due to the possible agreement between Kioxia and Western Digital, which can be officially announced in a matter of weeks. Currently, Toshiba owns 40% of the shares of Kioxia, a company dedicated to the development of components for memory and storage.
