Toshiba approves $15bn buyout offer from Japanese private equity fund

Toshiba’s board has approved a $15bn buyout offer from a consortium of domestic companies led by a Japanese private equity fund, according to people familiar with the talks.

The 147-year-old conglomerate, which was worth ¥1.8tn ($14bn) at Thursday’s market close, will be acquired by Japan Industrial Partners, which is joined by roughly 20 companies including financial services group Orix, Chubu Electric Power and chipmaker Rohm.

At its peak last year, when higher bids were expected from Bain Capital and other global private equity funds, the market valued the group at ¥2.5tn.

The approval heralds the end of an eight-year saga featuring an accounting scandal, a brush with delisting and a fire-sale of the company’s most valuable asset, the flash memory business now known as Kioxia. During the turmoil, Toshiba confronted one of the most embittered shareholder stand-offs in Japanese corporate history.

The outcome of the board meeting was first reported by Nikkei and is expected to be confirmed later on Thursday.

This is a developing story.