Feb 18 (Reuters) – Hard disk drive maker Western Digital plans to raise $3.17 billion by selling some of its stake in former unit Sandisk through a secondary share sale at a 7.7% discount to its last close, the flash drive maker said on Wednesday. Western Digital is expected to swap the 5.8 million shares […]
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Western Digital to sell partial Sandisk stake for $3.17 billion to cut debt
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Feb 18 (Reuters) – Hard disk drive maker Western Digital plans to raise $3.17 billion by selling some of its stake in former unit Sandisk through a secondary share sale at a 7.7% discount to its last close, the flash drive maker said on Wednesday.
Western Digital is expected to swap the 5.8 million shares up for sale with debt held by affiliates of J.P. Morgan and BofA Securities. The two banks, who are also the lead bookrunners for the offering, will offload the shares on behalf of their affiliates.
Sandisk shares fell about 2.13% in after-market trading on Tuesday. Bloomberg News first reported the price range of the offering.
The sale will leave Western Digital with a stake of nearly $1 billion, according to Reuters calculations, which the company intends to dispose of eventually.
Western Digital did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)