Foxconn Technology Group is teaming up with Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Kingston Technology Corp. to make a bid on Toshiba Corp.’s highly profitable memory business, Foxconn Chief Executive Terry Gou told Reuters today.

Hurting for cash, Toshiba is looking to sell its semiconductor segment as soon as possible, and a number of major players in the tech industry have been looking to make their bids. According to previous reports, bids for Toshiba’s memory business have been as high as $27 billion.

Foxconn, the electronics manufacturer best known for producing Apple’s iPhone, was one of the first major businesses to express interest in Toshiba’s deal. After months of rumors that Foxconn would be partnering with Apple for its bid, Gou confirmed today that Apple is “in for sure,” and he noted that Amazon.com Inc. is also close to joining the bidding group. Other partners include computing giant Dell and flash memory maker Kingston.

One potential snag in Foxconn’s plan to bid on Toshiba’s memory business is its close ties to mainland China, where a significant number of its factories are located. The government of Japan, which is where Toshiba is headquartered, has said that it may block the deal if it might lead to key chip technology leaving the country.

Toshiba has moved quickly in its efforts to sell its memory segment, but the process has not been without complications. American hard drive maker Western Digital attempted to block the sale, arguing that Toshiba’s memory business included several joint venture agreements with SanDisk, which Western Digital had acquired in 2016.

Western Digital argued that it should be given the first chance to bid on the deal, but so far the company has been unable to block Toshiba from moving forward. In May, Western Digital was reportedly looking to join a consortium of Japanese businesses to bid on Toshiba’s deal, and now it seems that Western Digital is considering raising its bid significantly as it tries compete with other bidders. According to Reuters, Western Digital may raise its bid to at least $18 billion. Western Digital is also still pursuing its arbitration claim against Toshiba regarding its joint ventures.

Toshiba is due to choose its preferred bidder on Thursday.

The company’s shares rose 9 percent Monday, though the stock remains down 26 percent from late December, before it revealed big losses at its Westinghouse unit.

Photo: Nadkachna – Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link