Toshiba Announces $15 Billion Plan to Be Taken Private

Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it has agreed to a deal worth ¥2 trillion, equivalent to $15 billion, to take the company private.

Toshiba said the buyout would be led by Japan Industrial Partners Inc., a Tokyo-based investment fund. It said the buyers were offering ¥4,620 a share, about 10% above the closing price of ¥4,213 in Tokyo Stock Exchange trading Thursday. That values the company at about ¥2 trillion.

If the deal wins support from shareholders and regulators, it would mark the conclusion of years of turmoil at Toshiba, a former leader in Japan’s corporate world that has shed many of its well-known businesses including laptop computers and medical equipment.

In March 2022, Toshiba shareholders rejected a management plan to split the company into two parts, reflecting opposition from foreign shareholders including some who wanted the company to be auctioned to the highest bidder. The next month Toshiba put itself up for auction, soliciting options to strategically reorganize itself, including privatization.