WD grits teeth, hands over the goodies to Toshiba to regulators and dentists' delight
Western Digital has completed its FTC-ordered handover of assets to Toshiba in order to buy Hitachi's HDD business Viviti. The wedding of the year was halted when regulators, citing monopoly concerns, demanded WD hand over a bundle of IP, R&D materials and production line gear to Tosh. In exchange, Western Digital will take over Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand), the arm of the company that was devastated in the recent flooding. It's WD's aim to integrate the remaining assets into its own local operations -- you can read the official line in the land of pure imagination below.
Show full PR text
WD® Completes Divestiture Of Assets To Toshiba Corporation
IRVINE, Calif., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced that it has completed its divestiture of certain 3.5-inch hard drive assets to Toshiba Corporation, as required by regulatory agencies that conditionally approved the company's completed acquisition of Viviti Technologies Ltd. (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies).
The assets will enable Toshiba to manufacture and sell 3.5-inch hard drives for the desktop and consumer electronics markets and will enhance its ability to manufacture and sell 3.5-inch hard drives for near-line (business critical) applications.
As part of its deal with Toshiba, WD® also completed its purchase of Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand) Company Limited (TSDT), which manufactured hard drives prior to the recent Thailand flooding. The principal assets of TSDT are its Thailand property, facilities and employees, which WD plans to integrate into its Thailand operations. The financial terms of the two agreements were not disclosed.
