Toshiba is looking to raise £7bn from the sale of its memory chip business
Toshiba's shares dipped again today as it prepares to raise at least 1 trillion yen (£7.1bn) from the sale of its flash memory chip business, a source told Reuters.
The embattled Japanese firm is working to fill a multi-billion pound hole in its US nuclear business by selling a majority stake or even all of its prized memory chip unit, which is its most valuable business. Previously it planned to sell 19.9 per cent.
Toshiba is looking to sell to multiple buyers and has already received interest from investment funds, other chipmakers and client companies, the source said, calling the sale "the best and the only way Toshiba can raise a large amount of funds and wipe out concerns about its credit risk".
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The sale is set to be completed by the end of March next year.
The source added the conglomerate is focusing on the amount to be raised rather than the size of the stake sold, and Toshiba is aiming to retain a one-third holding to give it a continued degree of control over the business.
A Toshiba spokeswoman told Reuters the company cannot comment on the specifics of the sale process.
When selling a 19.9 per cent stake, Toshiba received offers between 200bn yen and 400bn yen from potential buyers including rivals SK Hynix Inc and Micron Technology, data storage firm Western Digital and financial investors such as Bain Capital, sources said.