Toshiba Mulls Splitting Into 3 Listed Firms, Like GE

Toshiba Corp. is considering breaking itself into three entities focusing on infrastructure, semiconductors, among others, with all their to be publicly traded, sources familiar with the matter said Monday, Mainichi Japan reported.

Photo Insert: The Toshiba building in Japan

The envisaged split of Toshiba, a Japanese household name with a long history, comes as the industrial conglomerate aims to streamline its businesses. Such a move could significantly change the landscape of the tech sector.

The idea may be included in a new medium-term business plan Toshiba is scheduled to announce on Friday, according to the sources.

A Toshiba official said the company "is considering a split-up as one of the options for increasing corporate value," but that "nothing has been decided."

Toshiba's business portfolios range from infrastructure and nuclear power to semiconductors and elevators, making it one of the Japanese firms seen as crucial for national security.

Toshiba sold its chip-making unit, but it still has a stake in the company renamed Kioxia Holdings Corp.

Toshiba has faced mounting pressure from foreign activist shareholders, who own the bulk of the Japanese industrial conglomerate, to make its business portfolio more efficient.

The company is also considering various options, including going private, the sources said. In recent years, Toshiba accepted investments from foreign investors to cope with its financial hardships following the 2017 bankruptcy of its US nuclear plant subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co.

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