The Japanese Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday it received a takeover bid from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, in a deal that could be valued at more than $ 20 billion if completed.
Toshiba said it would ask for more details about the offer and would carefully study the proposal.
Toshiba shares rose 18% in Tokyo quotes on Wednesday to close at 4.5 4,530, equivalent to $ 41.26, the highest level since December 2016. This gives the company a market capitalization of about $ 19 billion. The Nikkei newspaper said CVC offered a 30% premium, suggesting the proposal would value Toshiba at just over $ 20 billion.
CVC declined to comment.
According to Dealogic, the deal would be one of the largest leveraged purchases in history, and possibly the largest in Asia, rivaling the 2018 deal led by Bain Capital to acquire Toshiba’s flash drive. In a leveraged purchase, a financial company like CVC uses borrowed money to buy a business, usually in the hopes of improving its operations and selling with profits later.