Joins Japan Investment Corp. Consortium
MBK Partners, the largest private equity fund in Northeast Asia, has joined the Japan Investment Corp. (JIC) consortium in order to take over Toshiba Corp. together with the consortium members, which include Bain Capital.
According to reports, potential buyers of the troubled Japanese conglomerate have been narrowed down to two groups, one led by state-backed fund JIC and another by Tokyo-based fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc. Sept. 30 was the deadline for the second round of bidding following the first in July.
JIC has partnered with U.S. investment fund Bain Capital, while Japan Industrial Partners has formed an alliance with European fund CVC Capital Partners.
Previously, JIC and JIP were planning to form a consortium together, but there was a clash of opinions and JIC held hands with Bain Capital instead.
Toshiba proposed a company split plan in April in order to overcome its financial difficulties. However, the shareholders including activist funds rejected it. The current market cap of Toshiba is approximately 2.23 trillion yen, and the control premium-included price of the company is estimated at 3 trillion yen.