Tokyo- Toshiba Corp. is in final talks with a Japan-US-South Korea consortium to conclude a deal to sell its flash memory unit, informed sources said Tuesday.

The struggling Japanese electronics and machinery maker on Wednesday granted the consortium the preferential right to negotiate for the chip unit, Toshiba Memory Corp.

Toshiba hoped to finalize the deal before the shareholders meeting slated for Wednesday, in order to maintain its credibility with its shareholders and creditor banks. But it has become difficult to ink the final contract by that time, the sources said.

The government led the creation of the consortium, with government-backed investment fund Innovation Network Corp. of Japan and the state-held Development Bank of Japan set to secure more than 50 percent of the voting power.

The pair is joined by US investment firm Bain Capital, South Korean semiconductor maker SK Hynix Inc. and Japanese companies.

"I think it's possible" to conclude a deal before the shareholders meeting, Toshiba President Satoshi Tsunakawa told a press conference on Friday.

Meanwhile, it emerged on Monday US hard disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. has sent Toshiba a letter expressing its serious concern over the Japanese partner's planned sale of Toshiba Memory, noting that the consortium includes South Korean rival SK Hynix.

Western Digital has filed a lawsuit in the United States to stop the chip unit sale. Depending on further developments, Toshiba's plan to complete the sale procedures by the end of March 2018 and avoid being delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange may collapse.

On Tuesday, Western Digital said it and US investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. have jointly submitted a new proposal for Toshiba Memory.

Some parties in the consortium are concerned over concluding a deal before the feud between Toshiba and Western Digital is settled, informed sources said.

To dispel their concerns, Toshiba plans to attach a rider to the envisioned deal with the consortium to assure that Toshiba will settle the dispute with Western Digital, the sources also said. (Jiji Press)