Whom will Toshiba marry?

Strapped by cash problem, Japanese Toshiba will sell the medical device unit in order to improve their finance situation after the accounting scandal.

Not many details are disclosed, it is believed that the value of the deal is between $6 billion to $6,5 billion. Fuji Film, Canon and a consortium form by Konica Minolta and an UK private equity fund are in the second round bidding.

The negotiation of the deal should not last very long, but whom will Toshiba marry in the end?

Another Japanese firm, Sharp Inc. was also trying to sell the business to potential buyers. Sharp was very close to closing a deal with Foxconn, but the deal is suspended. Foxconn-Sharp marriage is the best solution interm of product and business integration, but there are strong voices against this deal: a Japanese firm should stay in hands of Japanese, or some Japanese would rather leave Sharp in bankruptcy. A Japanese government endorsed investment fund was trying to acquire Sharp but eventually withdrew.

Hence now a Japanese company, Canon or Fuji, buys Toshiba medical device unit shall be the most possible and logical result. For the sake of saving the pride and dignity of the Japanese manufacturing industry, Toshiba has to marry a Japanese as a bitter happy end of the story.