Japan’s Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday that it received a proposal for acquisition from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, in a deal that could be valued at more than $20 billion if completed.
Toshiba said it would seek further details about the offer and consider the proposal carefully.
Toshiba’s shares rose 18% in Tokyo trading Wednesday to close at ¥4,530, equivalent to $41.26, the highest level since December 2016. That gives the company a market capitalization of nearly $19 billion. The Nikkei newspaper said CVC was offering a 30% premium, suggesting the proposal would value Toshiba at slightly more than $20 billion.
CVC declined to comment.
The deal would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history, according to Dealogic, and possibly the largest in Asia, rivaling the 2018 deal led by Bain Capital to acquire Toshiba’s flash-memory unit. In a leveraged buyout, a financial company such as CVC uses borrowed money to buy a business, typically hoping to improve its operations and sell at a profit later.
Japanese government approval would be needed for a foreign buyer to acquire Toshiba because of its involvement in infrastructure businesses in Japan, including maintenance of nuclear power plants. Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities, said that would add uncertainty to the deal. But he said that simplifying Toshiba’s shareholder structure might appeal to regulators after recent disputes between foreign shareholders and Toshiba’s management.
Asked about Toshiba, chief government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said it was important to keep the business running stably.
At a special meeting in March, shareholders approved a proposal by Effissimo Capital Management Pte. to appoint investigators to examine whether voting at a shareholders’ meeting last year was conducted fairly.
Foreign shareholders have taken a growing role at the Japanese industrial conglomerate since it raised billions of dollars in 2017 to bolster its balance sheet. That followed the bankruptcy of its U.S. nuclear subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Co.
Toshiba Chief Executive Nobuaki Kurumatani served as chairman of CVC’s Japan unit before joining the company.
Toshiba has shrunk since an accounting scandal broke in 2015. It sold a controlling stake in its flash-memory unit, while retaining a minority stake, and it has shed medical, consumer-electronics and appliance businesses to focus on industrial areas such as energy and infrastructure.
Source: Mint