Shares in Toshiba jumped as much as 3 per cent higher on Friday after the Japanese conglomerate said it would set up a special committee to assess potential bids from private equity and other investors, opening the door for a landmark deal to take one of the country’s biggest industrial names private.
The committee is likely to receive its first deal proposal from Bain Capital, the US private equity firm that last week secured qualified support for a buyout deal from Toshiba’s largest shareholder, Singaporean investment fund Effissimo.
People close to the situation said Bain’s preparations for a bid were in an advanced stage, but they also noted the significant political and technical challenges of taking private a 146-year-old brand whose business areas stretch from infrastructure and refrigerators to nuclear power and defence.