Toshiba planning to sell TV business and Turkish, Chinese companies among potential buyers

TOKYO - Nikkei

REUTERS photo

Toshiba, which sold the first Japan-made color television in 1960, now appears to want to sell its TV business.

Some foreign buyers are said to be showing interest in taking over the unit, according to people familiar with the matter.

Potential bidders include Turkish home-appliance maker Vestel and a few Chinese rivals.

The troubled Japanese electronics company is rushing to squeeze losses by selling off noncore divisions. Toshiba’s financial struggles are expected to worsen now that Westinghouse Electric, its U.S. nuclear power unit, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Bidders are expected to start the process of putting a price on Toshiba’s TV business soon. The sale could fetch up to a few dozen billion yen, or a few hundred million dollars. Toshiba expects to complete the process by next March -- the end of the current fiscal year.

After an accounting scandal came to light in 2015, Toshiba decided to restructure its businesses. It concentrated the development and sales of TVs in Japan, changing overseas operations to licensing businesses.

Vestel has already cut a licensing agreement with Toshiba to produce TVs in Europe under the Toshiba brand.
Potential Chinese buyers include the Hisense Group.

In the April-September period of last year, the company’s TV unit made 27.9 billion yen in sales, down 42 percent from the year before, and registered an operating loss of 10.5 billion yen.

In June 2016, Toshiba sold its white goods unit to China’s Midea Group.