Japan’s Toshiba Corp (TYO:6502) will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported today.
Hitachi Ltd (OTCMKTS:HTHIY) and other Japanese firms are seen as possible bidders for the unit, Kyodo added.
Toshiba had already hired UBS to explore a sale or an initial public offering of the business, potentially valued at over $2 billion, Reuters reported last month.
Toshiba is targeting buyout groups such as Carlyle (NASDAQ:CG), Cinven, Advent (NASDAQ:ADVS), Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Bain, Onex (TSE:ONEX), Triton, CD&R and even former owner KKR (NYSE:KKR), a person close to the matter shared.