According to Bloomberg, Fujitsu is rumored to be selling its money-losing hard drive business to Western Digital. While neither company has confirmed this rumor, the business is expected to sell for 70-100 billion yen and will include Fujitsu's plants in Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.
Fujitsu Ltd. is in talks to sell its unprofitable storage-drive business to Western Digital Corp., three Fujitsu executives said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are preliminary.
The executives declined to comment on the sale price after the Nikkei newspaper said today the business may fetch 70 billion yen ($659 million) to 100 billion yen. Tokyo-based Fujitsu said in a statement that the report had ``no factual basis.''
Fujitsu rose as much as 7.2 percent in Tokyo trading as Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said a sale may help raise investor confidence over management's commitment to boost earnings. A purchase may help Western Digital challenge Seagate Technology's lead in a storage-drive industry that's facing falling prices and competition from flash memory chipmakers.
