Japan’s Toshiba says to spin off chip unit

Tokyo: Toshiba said on Friday it will spin off its memory chip business, following reports that the vast conglomerate is planning to sell a stake in the unit to repair its battered balance sheet. Local media in recent days have said the company — dented by a major accounting scandal and huge losses in its nuclear business — is looking to raise as much as $2.6 billion from selling around 20 per cent of the chip division. While it did not confirm any sale plans, Toshiba said on Friday it was considering “outside capital” to help restore its finances. “We have decided a plan to spin off our storage and electronic devices solutions company into a separate firm effective around March 31, 2017,” it said in a statement, referring to the chip unit. A once-proud pillar of corporate Japan, Toshiba has been besieged by problems, most notably the profit-padding scandal in which bosses for years systematically pushed subordinates to cover up weak financial results. — AFP