Toshiba received $3.6 billion bid for stake in its semiconductor unit

As I've written about a couple of times now, Toshiba is looking to sell a minority stake in its semiconductor unit to offset some losses in its nuclear business. The Japanese conglomerate wants to finish this transaction before the end of its book year in March so there's quite a bit of haste involved.

Reuters reports several parties have placed bids, with offers ranging from 200 billion yen to as much as 400 billion yen ($1.8 billion - $3.6 billion) for a 19.9 percent stake in Toshiba's chip business. According to the rumor mill, Toshiba is hoping to raise around 300 billion yen.

The Japanese conglomerate is seeking to raise around 300 billion yen from the sale, said the person, who was not authorized to speak with media and so declined to be identified.

A sale at that price would help Toshiba offset a multi-billion dollar writedown on its U.S. nuclear power business, which investors worry could wipe out shareholder equity.

It's unknown who placed the highest bid. Toshiba favors a deal with a private equity fund to get the transaction done as quickly as possible, as deals with parties like Western Digital or Micron could face long regulatory delays.