Digital storage vendor Western Digital announced this week that it plans to spin off the flash memory business it built following its US$19 billion acquisition of SanDisk in 2016 into a separate publicly-traded company. The announcement comes after a proposed merger of the unit with Japan’s Kioxia fell through due to opposition from a Kioxia investor, memory chip maker SK Hynix.
The split is scheduled for the second half of 2024, although the company said it is open to alternatives. However, in an article, Reuters quoted Kinngai Chan, analyst at Summit Insights Group, who ruled out any other approaches for the flash memory business. “We are not expecting any other company to bid,” he said.
