Toshiba Completes Sale of Flash Memory Unit to Investment Group That Includes Apple

Toshiba has completed the $18 billion sale of its memory chip unit to a global consortium that includes Apple, almost nine months since it announced that the deal had been agreed (via Reuters).

The Japanese firm had originally planned to wrap up the sale by mid-March, however a lengthy review by Chinese antitrust authorities didn't finish until last month. Toshiba confirmed this week that ownership of the NAND flash memory unit had finally changed hands.

"Toshiba hereby gives notice that the closing of the sale has been completed today as scheduled," the group said in a statement on Friday.

The investment consortium led by Bain Capital includes Apple, Dell, SK Hynix, Kingston, and Seagate Technology. Toshiba retains a 40 percent ownership of the unit as part of the agreement.

Toshiba first announced plans to sell its NAND flash memory unit in January of 2017 in order to raise funds to cover several billion dollars of losses associated with its U.S. nuclear subsidiary, Westinghouse. Bidding for the chip unit first kicked off in March of that year, with the manufacturer fielding bids from multiple interested parties.

Three bidding groups originally competed to take over the lucrative chip unit, with Bain eventually winning out. Apple actually participated in all three bids, demonstrating its keenness to protect its supply of Toshiba flash memory, which it already uses in iPhones and iPads. Apple is thought to have contributed around $3 billion to the Bain deal, giving it around a 16 percent stake.