While Samsung was still considering of acquiring SanDisk, Western Digital has made a move of closing the deal with the flash memory manufacturer. Successfully buying the Korean company from its competitors using Tsinghua Unisplendour's investments, the data storage company promises to be a powerhouse in the consumer flash industry.
A week after Dell bought EMC for US$67 billion, Western Digital used its Tsinghua Unisplendour Co., Ltd. investment money to acquire SanDisk for US$19 billion. Speculations about this transaction has been deep, right after the Unisplendour venture in the data storage company of US$3.8 billion.
The computer data storage company will be paying out US$85.10 per share from its common stocks to SanDisk. With the acquisition a success, Western Digital may double its market value and steeply integrate into NAND, which can safeguard its longstanding technology at a lower price. The Western-SanDisk venture with Toshiba for making NVMe and 3D flash still remains unscathed.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Milligan of Western Digital deep-rooted the acquisition coincides with the company's strategies to be the leader in storage innovations. In addition, Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra of SanDisk stated that it has found its saviour after facing issues in the company's effort to expand into a flash-supplying enterprise.
As the two companies join forces, Western will be big when it comes to storage solutions and innovation to consumers through a wide range of applications out on the market. Also, Milligan will stay as the CEO and Mehrotra will join the board of members. Achieving an annual run-rate of US$500 million in the next 18 months after closing the deal is expected by the CEO. Pending closing of the deal, the company is expected to disburse funds for purchasing, refinancing, and other acquisition-related expenses as the deal comes sealed at the end of 2016.
