Fujitsu: No Chances to Merge Hard Drive Businesses with Western Digital

From X-bit Labs: The president of Fujitsu said in an interview that now there is zero chance that the company’s hard disk drive (HDD) business would be sold to Western Digital. Although the unit is believed to be losing money, WD is unlikely to offer proper price due to strong Japanese Yen.

“I won’t deny that we have had talks with Western Digital. But at the moment, there is zero chance of a deal,” said Fujitsu President Kuniaki Nozoe in an interview with Japanese Nikkei news-paper, reports Reuters news-agency.

Back in October ’08 Western Digital was rumored to be planning to acquire Fujitsu’s HDD business unit along with plants in Japan, the Philippines and Thailand for ¥70 billion to ¥100 billion, which was from US$661 million to US$944 million at the time. At present, the actual price of Fujitsu’s HDD business unit would be from US$775.6 million to US$1.108 billion, which is considerably higher. However, it is claimed that WD turned down the offering to acquire the hard drive unit even for ¥50 billion (about US$554 million).

Recently Western Digital said that that as a result of softer demand for its products it would have to take a series of actions in order to reduce its operating costs. Among those actions, WD will have to cut down production of hard drives as well as headcount and also lower capital spending.

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