It might not be the frontrunner, but Western Digital Corp. hasn’t given up on its bid to acquire Toshiba Corp.’s NAND flash business unit, which is currently one of the hottest properties in tech.

Last week it was reported that Broadcom Corp. was leading a pack of bidders that also includes Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (also known as Foxconn), a consortium made up of Bain Capital and SK Hynix Inc., and a second consortium made up of the private equity group Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts Co. LP, the Development Bank of Japan and the Innovation Network Corp. of Japan.

Western Digital has been lurking in the background, however, having previously tried and failed to force Toshiba to give it first option on the business. On Monday, Reuters reported that the company is trying to become a part of that second consortium in order to get its hands on at least a part of the flash business. It’s reported to have reached out to the Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, which is backed by Japan’s government, as well as KKR, to become part of their consortium and may even settle for being a minor investor rather than miss out altogether.

Reuters said it’s likely that the new consortium will become the new frontrunner to seal a deal for Toshiba’s business, as the involvement of the Japanese banks is essentially a seal of approval from Japan’s government. It’s widely believed that the Japanese government wants to avoid a sale to foreign companies like Foxconn if possible, as it considers Toshiba’s flash-based semiconductors to be important technology from a national security standpoint.

The new bid comes just a couple of weeks after it was reported that Western Digital filed for arbitration over Toshiba’s attempt to sell the memory business. Reuters said Western Digital’s initial, separate bid for the flash memory business was one of the lowest offers received during the first round of bidding.

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