AJapan Industrial Partners (JIP)-led consortium gained a 78.7% stake in Toshiba through a tender offer, exceeding the minimum required for the buyout, the Japanese conglomerate said in a statement Thursday.
The much-awaited acquisition is getting near the planned $14 billion deal to take the company private, ending the electronics-to-power stations maker’s 74-year history as a public company.
The company, which will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as December this year, expects the takeover to help resolve its business environment and management challenges.
The offer, which was made at a price of $31.14 (4,620 yen) apiece, extended for 30 business days between August 8 and September 20, the statement added. The company’s shares edged up 0.2% to $31 as of 10:09 a.m. GST Thursday.
The Japanese giant’s latest announcement comes after it accepted the $14 billion buyout offer from the JIP-led consortium earlier in March.
“We are deeply grateful to many of our shareholders for being understanding of the company’s position,” Reuters quoted Toshiba CEO Taro Shimada as saying in a statement. The company “will now take a major step toward a new future with a new shareholder,” he added.
In April 2022, Toshiba started the restructuring program, including a plan to delist the company. JIP submitted its takeover proposal in November last year, having acquired preferential negotiating rights through a bidding process, while the final proposal was submitted in February following the confirmation of loan commitments.
However, in the same month, there were talks of a possible buyout offer from US private equity firm Bain Capital after it secured the backing of Toshiba’s largest shareholder, Singapore-based Effissimo Capital Management.
The company suffered heavy losses following its foray into the nuclear business in 2006 after it bought American firm Westinghouse.
