Toshiba sees 410b yen balance sheet improvement from Westinghouse deal

[TOKYO] Toshiba Corp said on Thursday it would sell its claims in bankrupt nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric to a group led by the Baupost Group - a move that would contribute to an improvement of about 410 billion yen (S$4.9 billion) in its balance sheet.

Confirming an earlier Reuters report, the Japanese conglomerate also said it had agreed a deal to transfer its stake in the unit to Brookfield WEC Holdings.

The 410 billion yen figure includes profits of about 240 billion yen from the sale of its claims, and tax benefits of about 170 billion yen, Toshiba said in a statement.

Combined with the 600 billion yen in new shares it issued last month, Toshiba would be able to avoid falling into negative net worth for the business year to end-March, it said.

The transfer of Westinghouse shares to Brookfield, for US$1, is expected to be completed by March 31, Toshiba said.

REUTERS