Apple plays kingmaker in battle for Toshiba’s memory chip business
Tokyo/New York/San Francisco — Apple is playing the role of king maker in the contentious battle for Toshiba’s memory chips business. The iPhone maker is in talks to provide about $3bn in capital for Bain Capital’s bid for the unit, adding to financial support from Dell, Seagate Technology and SK Hynix, according to people familiar with the matter. This support convinced Toshiba to sign a memorandum of understanding with Bain and work towards a final agreement this month, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Apple plans to take an equity stake alongside Bain, they said. If the agreement is completed, it may exceed Apple’s largest deal, the $3bn acquisition of Beats Electronics. The California-based company is helping swing the deal away from Western Digital, one of Apple’s own suppliers that tried to buy the chips unit with KKR & Co. Apple’s money will help fill a gap left when state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) and D...
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