Toshiba To Go Private As JIP-led Consortium's Tender Offer Succeeds

(RTTNews) - Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corp. announced that a consortium led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners or JIP has bought majority of its shares. The company will now be taken private following the successful completion of around 2 trillion yen or $13.5 billion tender offer.

In a statement, Toshiba said that in the tender offer by TBJH Inc. for the company's shares, the consortium has purchased 78.65 percent of its shares at the offered price of 4,620 yen per share. The offer that started on August 8 ended on September 20.

As the offer has concluded, it is expected that the parent company and the largest shareholder among the major shareholders will change as of September 27.

The stock will be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toshiba, which was founded in 1875 as a clocks and mechanical dolls maker, started trading its shares in May 1949 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Following continuing financial and other struggles, Toshiba had initiated a restructuring of its operations, and in March this year agreed to accept a takeover offer by the consortium for around 2 trillion yen.

The company began its restructuring process after it received its first takeover bid in April 2021 from Europe-based CVC Capital Partners. In November 2021, Toshiba announced a plan to split the entire group into three companies.

Last April, Toshiba began publicly soliciting restructuring proposals, including delisting, and JIP submitted a takeover offer in November, and a final proposal in February.

In June last year, the company had said that it received 8 initial proposals for privatization, as well as 2 initial proposals for a strategic capital and business alliance.

So far, the company has sold many of its major businesses, including laptop computers, medical equipment and televisions. The remaining businesses include energy systems and batteries, among others.

In its latest first quarter, the company recorded a net loss of 25.39 billion yen or 58.68 yen per share, compared to last year's profit, amid a 5 percent drop in net sales to 704.11 billion yen.

In Japan, Toshiba shares were trading at 4,604 yen, up 0.15 percent.