Toshiba receives 10 investment proposals including 8 to go private

Toshiba Corp said on Thursday it has received 10 investment proposals including 8 proposals to go private as the troubled Japanese conglomerate explores strategic options.

The other two proposals were for capital and business alliances in which Toshiba would remain listed.

Toshiba, which has been bedeviled by accounting and governance crises since 2015, set up a special committee in April to solicit proposals after shareholders voted down a management-backed restructuring plan.

The deadline for submitting the non-binding proposals was Monday.

The company said in a statement it will evaluate financing arrangements, the feasibility of the proposals, and select potential investors to be given due diligence opportunities after its shareholders' meeting on June 28.

Last month, Toshiba said 10 potential investors had signed confidentiality pledges.

According to sources, KKR & Co Inc, Blackstone Inc, Bain Capital, and Brookfield Asset Management were considering bids.

Japanese firms including Japan Investment Corp, Japan Industrial Partners, and Polaris Capital Group were also looking at participating in bids, sources have also said.

It was not immediately clear which private equity firms had made actual bids or which firms might join hands with others in their proposals.

In steps that investors say have increased the odds of Toshiba agreeing to a take-private deal, the conglomerate has nominated an executive from M&A advisory firm Houlihan Lokey as chairperson and activist shareholders as outside directors.

Toshiba also said on Thursday it expects its operating profit to nearly quadruple to 600 billion yen ($4.6 billion) in the year through March 2031 from the last financial year.

It aims to beef up digital-related services, production of power management chips and research on next-generation nuclear power reactors.

The outlook will be the springboard for discussions with potential investors, it said.

($1 = 130.0400 yen)