Merger discussions for the PC units of Toshiba, Fujitsu and Vaio are on the verge of collapse, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Japan Industrial Partners, a fund that bought a controlling stake in Vaio from Sony in 2014, has already left the table. Fujitsu is still in discussions with Toshiba, but neither wants to take a majority of the proposed joint company, putting the talks at risk of falling apart.
Talks started last year after an accounting scandal at Toshiba, which said it had overstated profits for years. Under one idea, Japan Industrial Partners would have taken a controlling stake in the combined company, but the sides couldn’t agree on terms, the sources said. They said Vaio walked away because it felt the negotiations were going nowhere.
A Toshiba spokesperson said that the company is considering various options for its PC unit, including a consolidation with others, but nothing has been decided. In March, Toshiba agreed to sell its medical-equipment unit to Canon in a deal valued at JPY 688 billion (USD 6.3 billion). One person familiar with the matter said the larger-than-expected price tag took the pressure off Toshiba to reach a PC deal quickly. Toshiba has said it expects to report a net loss of JPY 710 billion in the year ended March 2016, although the amount may be smaller thanks to the medical deal.
