Toshiba Corporation has opened talks with at least four global private equity firms to seek their ideas for its new strategy after the controversies that trailed its $20 billion buyout bid from CVC Capital Partners in June.
A news report by Reuters which quoted sources with knowledge of the parley, listed the companies in discussion with Toshiba as including KKR & Co Inc, Blackstone Inc, Bain Capital and Canadian investment firm – Brookfield.
The companies were reported to have been contacted by the scandal-hit Japanese conglomerate’s strategic review committee to put together and submit their ideas for Toshiba, the sources said.
According to the online medium, the latest process is not meant to formally solicit buyout bids for the overall company or some of its assets even as it is not immediately clear whether the engagement with buyout firms will result in formal offers in the future.
The sources in the knowledge of the parleys were reported to have said that the step indicated that Toshiba was engaging with potential bidders since shareholders ousted its chairman, Osamu Nagayama, in June after the company was found to have colluded with the Japanese government to put pressure on foreign investors.
After Nagayama’s ouster, Toshiba launched a full review of its current assets and also unveiled plans to engage with potential strategic and financial investors.
Reuters reported that the company, in a statement admitted that “as announced, Toshiba’s strategic review committee is considering and discussing a wide range of initiatives without delay.”
Toshiba, which has many lines of business and units and operates in several jurisdictions and a market valuation of about $19 billion as at Wednesday, plans to present the achievements when the management announces the new business plan in October.
At an earnings briefing this month, Toshiba’s Chief Executive, Satoshi Tsunakawa, said the company had been “vigorously engaged in dialogue not only with shareholders but also with financial and strategic investors.”
He also said that the company was open to take-private bids but that it had not received any offers since a $20 billion takeover bid from CVC Capital Partners, which was subsequently dismissed as lacking details.
The company’s immediate past CEO, Nobuaki Kurumatani, resigned on Wednesday, April 14, amid controversy over a $20 billion buyout bid from CVC Capital Partners.
