EU clears Toshiba to buy Fujitsu's hard disk business

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 12 May 2009 at 11:14

Toshiba has won permission from European regulators to acquire the hard disk business of Fujitsu in a deal worth $305 million.

The European Commission, which polices competition in the 27-nation European Union, says in a statement the deal is unlikely to prevent downstream competition in the market and there would be no risk of excluding competing suppliers.

"Although the transaction would render the combined entity number one producer of mobile HDDs (hard disk drives) ... (the) market was competitive and the transaction would not give rise to competition concerns," says the Commission in its ruling.

Toshiba announced in February it would buy Fujitsu's loss-making hard disk drive business as it aims to increase market share and cut costs in a weak industry. The firms signed the deal on 30 April and planned to complete the transaction by 1 July.

The deal forms part of Toshiba's plan to capture more than 20% of the market by 2015, up from the combined 14% share Toshiba and Fujitsu held, and compete with market leaders Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi.