On Wednesday, June 21, Toshiba named the name of the preferred bidder for the purchase of its semiconductor business. A consortium consisting of the state investment fund Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), a private investment company Bain Capital, the Development Bank of Japan, the South Korean manufacturer of SK Hynix memory chips and a bank belonging to the financial group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

These companies offer to purchase Toshiba Memory, which specializes in the production of NAND flash memory, for about 2 trillion yen (18 billion dollars). This is slightly less than the amount of 2.2 trillion yen offered by American chipmaker Broadcom in conjunction with the investment company Silver Lake.

In addition, according to media reports, a group of companies including Taiwanese contract manufacturer of electronics Foxconn and US IT corporations Apple and Dell. Negotiations are still underway.

The consortium led by INCJ and Bain Capital is considered the most likely buyer of semiconductor assets of Toshiba, since such a deal will receive automatic approval from Japanese authorities interested in preserving Toshiba's technologies inside the country.

Toshiba noted that when taking a decision regarding the semiconductor industry, the company took into account the concerns of regulators about the transfer of Japanese technologies, the preservation of jobs and the prospects for the development of an important business for the country.

Earlier, Reuters referring to informed informants reported that potential buyers of Toshiba Memory are afraid to face legal problems if the differences between Toshiba and Western Digital are not eliminated.

In June, Western Digital filed a lawsuit against the state of California, demanding that a court ban on the sale of the Japanese chip business.

At the same time, Western Digital itself is ready to purchase these assets.

Toshiba aims to quickly close the deal to sell the semiconductor business - until the end of the current fiscal year, ending in March 2018, in order to avoid delisting shares after the significant losses of its nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse in the US.

Final definition with the buyer Toshiba Memory Japanese conglomerate is going to June 28, 2017. This day will be the annual meeting of the company's shareholders.