TOKYO -- As a row with partner Western Digital blocks Toshiba from access to vital credit, banks committed to supporting the embattled conglomerate are pondering an unusual workaround.
Toshiba secured continued financing at a mid-April meeting with creditor banks by offering collateral including shares in its spun-off memory chip subsidiary. But U.S. chipmaker Western Digital, which contends that Toshiba's planned sale of a majority stake in the unit without its consent violates joint venture agreements, also objects to this use of the shares. This has left the Japanese group unable to tap nearly 700 billion yen ($6.3 billion) in credit lines, a senior official at a major bank said.
