Toshiba confirms $20bn takeover bid from British fund
Japanese conglomerate Toshiba has received a buyout offer from a British private equity fund in a deal that could be worth about $20bn (£14.5bn).
The scandal-hit firm’s shares were temporarily halted on Tokyo’s stock exchange after it confirmed the bid by CVC Capital Partners.
If successful, it will allow Toshiba to focus on renewable energy and other core businesses, reports suggested.
Toshiba’s US-listed shares rocketed almost 20% after the bid was revealed.
The conglomerate has been at the centre of a number of scandals in recent years, including false accounting and huge losses linked to its US nuclear unit.
It was forced to sell its profit-making chip sector to make up for huge losses.
Toshiba’s chief executive and president Nobuaki Kurumatani confirmed the offer from CVC Capital Partners – his former employer – on Wednesday, adding that “we’ll discuss it in a board meeting.”
CVC’s main office is in London although Luxembourg is its official headquarters.