Aggressive bidding: Toshiba sells entire medical device business

Toshiba Corp is looking to sell its entire medical equipment business, rather than only the 51% of its health care device subsidiary that reports last month suggested

Rising restructuring costs of Toshiba Corp, which is dealing with the aftermath of an accounting scandal, have prompted management to sell Toshiba Medical Systems in its entirety, reported Reuters.

Toshiba Medical makes diagnostic equipment such as X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems and is the world's second-biggest manufacturer of CT scan machines.

Reuters reported that the price tag between 400 bn yen to 500 bn yen (£2.5bn to £3.2bn) was a reasonable value for the unit but that the deal value could go as high as 650 bn yen (£4.1bn) amid strong demand for medical businesses with high growth prospects.

Companies such as Mitsui and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), owner of Panasonic Healthcare Holdings, are collaborating in order to make bids on Toshiba healthcare, whilst Canon is looking to make a bid on its own.

Toshiba Medical represents "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we are willing to purchase it," Toshizo Tanaka, Canon's executive vice president, said in a news conference.

KKR, Canon, Fujifilm Holdings and Konica Minolta, Japanese imaging firms with medical device units, have been shortlisted for the second round of bidding, Reuters said. The deadline for the bids is Friday 4 February.

Toshiba announced it is planning to sell either a controlling holding or the entire stake but so far has not specified which and according to Reuters, it expects to have made a net loss of 710 bn yen (£4.5bn) for the year ending in March compared with a previous estimate of a 550 bn yen (£3.4bn) loss.