Foxconn weighing up $27bn bid for Toshiba chip business

Toshiba’s chipmaking operations will be the subject of a $27bn bid from Taiwanese company Foxconn, according to reports on Monday.

Bloomberg first reported the news of the possible acquisition, citing people familiar with the matter, just weeks before a final decision will be made on the sale of the business.

Toshiba’s chip business is the second largest in the NAND chip area, only behind South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics.

Toshiba is currently collaborating with the Japanese government in an attempt to find a domestic buyer, but the reports said that overseas parties were more determined to complete the sale.

The sale of the chip operations is the latest attempt from the firm to streamline its business, following the write-down of its nuclear division Westinghouse and an accompanying loss of billions of dollars.

Another Japanese company, Fujifilm, has also expressed an interest in taking on Toshiba’s chip business.

The latest bid by Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, would present a potential headache for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with some in the government pushing for a Japanese company or a joint US-Japan effort to keep Toshiba within the country.

In March, Foxconn founder Terry Gou said that the Taiwanese company would “definitely” be submitting a bid to the auction, which is due to come to an end in the next few weeks.