Toshiba wants to pick preferred bidder for chip unit sale by end-May

[TOKYO] Toshiba Corp wants to pick the preferred bidder or bidders for a majority stake in its chip unit by the end of May and will hold the first round of bids next month, a source with knowledge of the plan said.

The company may sell the stake to one or multiple buyers and will release conditions for the sale by the end this month, added the source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

The Japanese conglomerate wants to raise at least one trillion yen (S$12.482 billion) by selling most of the flash memory business to raise cash to help cover a writedown of its US nuclear business and create a buffer for any fresh financial problems, a separate source said earlier.

REUTERS