Toshiba wants to raise at least US$8.8b from sale of chip unit majority stake: source

[TOKYO] Toshiba Corp wants to raise as least 1 trillion yen (US$8.83 billion) from the sale of a majority stake in its NAND flash memory business to plug a hole in its finances from a US$6.3 billion writedown of its US nuclear unit, a source said.

The Japanese industrial conglomerate wants to ensure it can cope with any future potential financial problems as it has been unable to issue new shares since the Tokyo Stock Exchange put it on a watchlist following its earlier US$1.3 billion accounting scandal, the source with direct knowledge of the planned sale said.

The sale should be completed by the end of March next year, added the source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

The Japanese industrial conglomerate, which initially said it planned to sell less than 20 per cent of the chips unit, last week said it could sell a majority, even all, of the prized business.

REUTERS