TOKYO — The board of the Japanese conglomerate Toshiba has approved a plan to sell its lucrative microchip business to a group of American and Japanese buyers, bringing the company closer to a deal it may need to survive.
Details of the sale must still be finalized, Toshiba said in a statement on Wednesday, leaving open the possibility of another turn in a drawn-out bidding process marked by reversals, acrimony and confusion. But a person with knowledge of the deliberations, who asked not to be identified because the talks were not public, said Toshiba was no longer negotiating with other bidders.
The Japanese company said the microchip unit would be sold for 2 trillion yen, or roughly $18 billion. The structure of the deal is complicated, and Toshiba said it would retain partial control of the business. It was not clear on Wednesday how much would end up being owned by outside investors.