14 DAY TRIAL // Last month, Samsung officially placed an offer of $5.8 billion for the acquisition of SanDisk, which was almost instantly turned down by the flash memory manufacturer. After the offer was rejected, several other companies, including Intel and Seagate, were rumored to have shown signs of interest in engaging in a possible bidding war to acquire SanDisk.
At some point, Toshiba, the world's No.2 maker of NAND flash memory chips after Samsung, was also said to be considering a possible take-over of the largest U.S retailer of flash memory cards, SanDisk. Recent reports now indicate that that was just a rumor, as the Japanese electronics company has no intention of bidding for SanDisk.
Speculation on who might buy SanDisk has been building up for quite some time now, but Samsung remains the only company to have officially expressed its intention and subsequent offer for its acquisition. However, rumors of a possible Toshiba takeover continue to make the headlines, especially since the two companies are partners in a number of projects, which could be subject to change if Samsung is successful in its attempts.
“We go back a long way and our partnership is tied by many agreements,” Toshiba's President, Atsutoshi Nishida, said on Thursday at the electronics trade show CEATEC, according to Reuters.
However, when asked if Toshiba was going to place a counter-offer to compete with Samsung in the possible acquisition of SanDisk, Nishida said, “That's not necessary,” thus putting an end to all rumors regarding the company’s interest in acquiring SanDisk.
In order to buy SanDisk, Samsung has to meet with United States regulators to prove that the merger of the top flash memory chip maker with the biggest producer of memory cards would not create competition issues. However, it is more than obvious that a future acquisition of SanDisk by Samsung would have a major impact on the market.