The Japanese Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday it has received a proposal to acquire from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, in a deal that could be valued at more than $ 20 billion upon completion.
Toshiba said it would seek more details about the offer and carefully consider the proposal.
Shares of Toshiba were up 18% in Tokyo, closing on Wednesday at ¥ 4,530, which equates to $ 41.26, its highest level since December 2016, giving the company a market cap of nearly $ 19 billion. The Nikkei newspaper said CVC was offering a 30% premium, suggesting the proposal would value Toshiba at just over $ 20 billion.
CVC declined to comment.
The deal would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history, and possibly the largest in Asia, rivaled by the 2018 deal led by Bain Capital to acquire Toshiba’s flash memory unit, according to Dealogic. In a leveraged buyout, a financial company such as CVC uses borrowed money to buy a company, hoping to improve its operations and later sell it for a profit.