Wednesday appears to be decision day for Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba regarding its Toshiba Medical Systems division.
According to a March 7 report from Reuters, Toshiba will choose between reported frontrunners Canon and Fujifilm Holdings, parent company of Fujifilm Medical Systems. Also in the running is Konica Minolta, which is working with European private equity firm Permira.
Global buyout firm KKR and Japanese trading house Mitsui reportedly have withdrawn their interest in the acquisition, according to the article, due the anticipated high price tag. Last week, Reuters reported that the sale could be between $3.5 billion and $5.7 billion, depending on whether the company sells 51% of the division, as it originally intended, or divests the entire stake.
Toshiba's move to divest its medical business comes after a $1.3 billion accounting scandal in which the company overstated 2009 earnings. Toshiba anticipates a net loss of $6.3 billion for the year (end-March), compared with a previous estimate of $4.9 billion, according to Reuters.
