Toshiba's choice of buyer may reflect opposition to Chinese bids

Tokyo

IN a complex deal described as "highly political and unwieldy", electrical giant Toshiba has reportedly chosen a consortium of Japanese, US and South Korean entities as the preferred bidder for its memory chip unit in its bid to stave off possible bankruptcy.

Toshiba, which is part of the Mitsui group, cited the need to "maintain sensitive technology within Japan" as one reason for choosing the three-nation consortium, but analysts read this as a veiled way of saying that Toshiba opposed a possible Chinese bid.

At one point, Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Company (which previously bought Japanese display maker Sharp Corp) emerged as a…