Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Western Digital's Hitachi Storage Takeover Approved With Restrictions

Posted by Unknown on from the trade-commission-regulating-trade-for-once dept.

angry tapir writes "Western Digital's plan to buy Hitachi Global Storage has run into U.S. FTC resistance: The U.S. FTC will require Western Digital to sell off assets used to manufacture desktop hard drives to a competitor as a condition of its U.S.$4.5 billion acquisition of rival Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the agency has announced." It looks like Toshiba is the competitor receiving the manufacturing assets. More from the FTC: "Under the proposed settlement order, Toshiba will receive all of the productive assets needed to replicate Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' position in the desktop hard disk drive market. In addition, the settlement order requires Western Digital to provide Toshiba with access to its employees involved in research and development and the production of desktop hard disk drives, and also requires Western Digital to license all intellectual property needed to make and supply desktop hard disk drives to Toshiba. The settlement order also requires Western Digital to be available to supply Toshiba with certain components Toshiba will need to run the desktop hard disk drive business it acquires, and to contract manufacture hard disk drives for Toshiba until Toshiba is able to manufacture them on its own. The FTC also has appointed a monitor to oversee the sale of the assets to Toshiba and to keep the Commission informed about the status of the required divestiture."

7 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Somehow this makes the sale fair? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So Western Digital can buy Hitachi... but give everything that might possibly have been a competitive advantage away to Toshiba at a low cost?

    1. Re:Somehow this makes the sale fair? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes. And, if it had been Hitachi buying Western Digital there would have been no strings attached, because the U.S. likes to shoot itself in it's own foot but will gladly help outsource whatever is left and destroy our economy at home. Sad tragedy...

    2. Re:Somehow this makes the sale fair? by AshtangiMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As long as you're willing to say the right prayer and wear the right clothes.

  2. Re:Hitachi (IBM) Deathstars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dude that was literally a decade ago. Get over it.

  3. Re:No good hard drives left by RogueLeaderX · · Score: 5, Informative

    WD has to sell Toshiba Hitachi's desktop HD assets, not their own. So you can continue to buy your raptors.

  4. Oh no! by rykin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean no more amusing flash videos to announce new technological breakthroughs?! Okay, so it didn't happen all that often, but I still can't forget Hitachi's "Get Perpendicular" video from 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_PyKuI7II. Like others, I'm surprised they aren't the ones consuming WD.

  5. Re:FTC? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know the summary is confusing (as usual), but read it slowly before complaining:

    WD wants to buy Hitachi Global Storage.

    Hitachi Global Storage manufactures desktop drives that compete with WD.

    The FTC requires WD to sell off the parts of *Hitachi* that make desktop drives to a competitor (Toshiba) before completing the acquisition of Hitachi.

    WD does not have to do anything with their existing disk manufacturing business / R&D / whatever.