Toshiba Corp. and Western Digital Corp. agreed to resolve their dispute over the Japanese conglomerate's planned sale of its memory chip unit.
The companies entered into a global settlement agreement that will see the withdrawal of "all pending litigation and arbitration actions, paving the way for the closing of the sale of Toshiba Memory Corp.," according to a Dec. 12 press release.
Both sides have agreed on mutual protections for their assets and confidential information in connection with the sale and on collaborating to ensure the future success of the memory chip manufacturer as a public company following an eventual IPO.
Under the agreement, Toshiba Memory and Western Digital will jointly participate in future investment rounds in Fab 6, the memory fabrication facility being constructed in the Japanese city of Yokkaichi. This includes the upcoming investment round that was announced by Toshiba in October. The parties also agreed to extend the terms of their joint ventures Flash Alliance and Flash Forward to Dec. 31, 2029, and Dec. 31, 2027, respectively. Their other joint venture, Flash Partners, was previously extended to December 31, 2029.
The settlement "will ensure that TMC has the resources it needs to continue to innovate and deliver for a fast-growing flash memory market, particularly in areas driven forward by advances in AI and IoT," said Yasuo Naruke, senior executive vice president of Toshiba and President and CEO of TMC.
In September, Toshiba agreed to sell Toshiba Memory to K.K. Pangea, a special purpose acquisition company formed and controlled by a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital LP for ¥2 trillion. Apple Inc., along with Kingston Technology Corp., Seagate Technology Plc and Dell Technologies Capital provided funding for the deal. South Korea's SK Group and Japan's HOYA Corp. are also among the investors.
As of Dec. 12, US$1 was equivalent to ¥113.68.
