Toshiba Delisted After 74 Years, Goes Private

(RTTNews) - Toshiba Corp. has been delisted from the Tokyo stock exchange after 74 years and taken private by a consortium led by an equity firm Japan Industrial Partners in an 11 billion pound deal.

The company has also been delisted from Nagoya Stock Exchange, Inc.

Announcing the delisting, Toshiba said, "Toshiba Group will now take a major step toward a new future with a new shareholder. Even after privatization, with its basic commitment of 'Committed to People, Committed to the Future,' the Company will strive to further enhance its corporate value and contribute to society."

Toshiba, which was founded in 1875 as a clocks and mechanical dolls maker, started trading its shares in May 1949 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Following continuing financial and other struggles, Toshiba initiated a restructuring of its operations and received its first takeover bid in April 2021 from Europe-based CVC Capital Partners. In November 2021, Toshiba announced a plan to split the entire group into three companies.

In June last year, the company had said that it received 8 initial proposals for privatization, as well as 2 initial proposals for a strategic capital and business alliance.

In March this year, the firm agreed to accept a takeover offer by the consortium for around 2 trillion yen. In late September, Toshiba announced that it would go private after the consortium had bought the majority of its shares following the successful completion of around 2 trillion yen or $13.5 billion tender offer.

So far, the company has sold many of its major businesses, including laptop computers, medical equipment, and televisions. The remaining businesses include energy systems and batteries, among others.

In its latest second quarter, the company had recorded loss of 26.74 billion yen or $178.29 million, compared to the prior year's profit, while operating profit climbed from last year. Net sales also declined 7.1 percent to 793.55 billion yen or $5.29 billion from the previous year with weak performance in many of its segments.

Looking ahead to the fiscal year 2023, the company now expects loss of 5 billion yen, compared to the previously expected profit.

Further, the company continues to expect operating income of 110.0 billion yen, down 0.5 percent from last year, and net sales of 3.20 trillion yen, a decrease of 4.8 percent from the prior year.