Toshiba Thrown a Lifeline as Bid Takes it Private

Toshiba – the Japanese industrial conglomerate and one of only two producers of high speed currency processing systems – has announced that a ¥2 trillion ($14 billion) tender offer from private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) has ended in success, paving the way for the company to go private.

The JIP-led consortium saw 78.65% of Toshiba shares tendered, giving the group a majority of more than two-thirds, which would be enough to squeeze out remaining shareholders.

The deal puts the 148-year-old electronics-to-power stations maker in domestic hands after years of battles with overseas activist investors. The company is set to be delisted as early as December.

Compared with a peak of over ¥7.6 trillion recorded for 2007, Toshiba’s sales had shrunk to less than half of that figure, to ¥3.4 trillion, by 2022. Since 2015, Toshiba has been battered by accounting scandals and heavy losses, particularly relating to its Westinghouse subsidiary in the US which built nuclear reactors, and came close to taking the company down.