Deals
Apple-Backed Billionaire Makes Case to Buy Toshiba Chip Unit
- Apple would hold a fifth of the business, SoftBank 10 percent
- Foxconn proposes to own a quarter while Kingston gets 20%
A Foxconn Technology Group hard drive.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Terry Gou, the billionaire behind Apple Inc.’s iPhone factories, is pressing his case to acquire Toshiba Corp.’s memory chips business for 2.1 trillion yen ($19.5 billion) in a last-ditch effort to beat out two American buyout firms in the tumultuous auction.
Gou’s Foxconn Technology Group has broad support for its offer from Apple, SoftBank Group Corp. and Sharp Corp. and is ready to proceed right away, said Louis Woo, a spokesman for the company, whose primary listed arm is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. The price tag compares with a rival bid led by Bain Capital said to be worth around 2.1 trillion yen and one from a KKR & Co.-led group said to be about 2 trillion yen.