Rpt: Toshiba Gets Bids as High as $3.6B For Chip Business Stake

Toshiba has received an offer as high as 400 billion yen ($3.6 billion) for a 19.9 percent stake in its flash memory business, with other bids as low as 200 billion yen, a person directly involved in the deal told Reuters.

Suitors include rivals SK Hynix and Micron Technology, and financial investors like Bain Capital.

The Japanese conglomerate was seeking to raise around 300 billion yen from the stake sale, said the source, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Toshiba needs to raise funds by the end of March to offset an imminent multibillion dollar writedown on its U.S. nuclear power business.

A Toshiba spokeswoman said the company could not comment on specifics of the sale process.

($1 = 112.1600 yen)

(Reporting by Taro Fuse; Writing by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Chris Gallagher)