Toshiba on track to settle dispute with Western Digital

December 7, 2017

Tokyo- Toshiba Corp.'s board on Wednesday confirmed plans to settle a dispute with US partner Western Digital Corp. over the Japanese company's planned sale of its flash memory unit, informed sources said.

At the meeting, the board received a report that negotiations to settle the dispute are in the final stages, the sources said.

The negotiations are under way between Western Digital and Bain Capital, the U.S. private-equity firm that leads an international consortium set to buy Toshiba Memory Corp.

Toshiba and Western Digital may be able to reach an agreement as soon as early next week to settle the dispute, one of the sources said.

Once a settlement is reached, Western Digital plans to drop its petition, which was filed with an international arbitration court in May to block the sale of Toshiba Memory.

Toshiba has called on Western Digital to withdraw the petition as a condition for the U.S. firm's participation in Toshiba's investment in a flash memory plant in Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture, central Japan.

Western Digital will be denied access to advanced chips if it does not participate in the investment in the plant jointly operated by the two companies. Jiji Press