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Toshiba caves to activist investor pressure, opens door to buyout

The Japanese tech conglomerate's stock prices surged after it hired a financial advisor which may result in soliciting offers for a buyout.

TJ Denzer

April 22, 2022 1:25 PM

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Toshiba as a company may be on the verge of a buyout following some interesting decisions this week. The company has been embroiled in contention with its major shareholders as to what direction it's headed. This culminated in bringing in a financial advisor to aid in planning, and may result in Toshiba taking offers for a buyout of the company.

The current situation with Toshiba, its share price, and its shareholders was recently reported by Reuters on April 22, 2022. According to reports, Toshiba has hired the Nomura Securities firm as a financial adviser. This could lead to a deal that takes the company private. Toshiba’s shares were up as much as 5 percent per share in Tokyo trade as of Friday on the possibility of a buyout, which has been a regular consideration and suggestion from the company’s major investors. The Toshiba stock reached as high as it has ever been since May 2013. The decision to hire Nomura Securities also comes just ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting, which is expected to take place in June 2022.

Nothing has officially been decided at Toshiba, but the company has been moving to try to add value to its products with current CEO Taro Shimada launching a plan to increase revenue by tying software to Toshiba hardware. If there did happen to be a buyout of the company, it is unknown at this time if the current management would remain in place or if it would be scuttled in favor of new executives. It’s also worth noting that Toshiba is currently facing issues with the chip shortage, having suggested that the issue could affect business all the way through 2022.

What happens next with Toshiba remains to be seen. It seems likely that a decision will take place either before or by the shareholder meeting in June. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates and details.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.