The Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, still financially weakened after a major accounting scandal in 2015, has received eight non-binding takeover bids, in addition to two bids for a partnership, the company announced.
The deadline to make an offer expired on Monday. Toshiba did not disclose the names of interested parties and takeover amounts. The company will now study the proposals carefully, it sounds. The most attractive bids will be selected ‘as soon as possible’ after the next general meeting on June 28.
The American investment fund Bain Capital, among others, has already expressed an interest in Toshiba. Some media also refer to other investment companies such as KKR, Blackstone or CVC Capital Partners, as does the Japanese government fund JIC. Analysts warn that a takeover of Toshiba is a complex matter, partly due to the various activities in which the group is active (defence, nuclear, computer chips, …) that are considered sensitive by the Japanese government.
The group was discredited in 2015 because it had embellished its bookkeeping and still bears the financial consequences of this. Since then, it has been forced to look for foreign funds. Some activist shareholders came into the capital. Earlier this year, a project to split off part of the group ran into a loss from the shareholders.
Toshiba also announced its new long-term vision on Thursday, saying it wants to become more agile in its organization and its operation. The company also wants to accelerate the development of numerical services as it expects this segment to become very profitable in the coming years. By the fiscal year 2030-2031, Toshiba wants to achieve a turnover of 5,000 billion yen, or about 36 billion euros. That is half more than in the previous financial year. Operating profit should reach 600 billion yen (4.3 billion euros) by 2030-2031, good for a profit margin of 12 percent.
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