Western Digital to Acquire SanDisk for $19 Billion

Western Digital acquires SanDisk. The companies announced this in a press release. The acquisition involves an amount of 19 billion dollars, approximately 16.7 billion euros. SanDisk shareholders have yet to approve the acquisition.

Western Digital announces it is acquiring all outstanding shares of SanDisk. The company is financing the amount with cash, debt financing and stock. According to the companies, WD and SanDisk’s product portfolios align. In addition to making hard drives, WD is mainly active in the cloud storage market. SanDisk is a major player in the market for products that use flash memory, such as SD cards and SSDs. The press release emphasizes that the companies jointly own an extensive database of more than 15,000 patents.

The SanDisk and Toshiba joint venture will continue to exist after the acquisition. The companies have been working together for fifteen years. This year, they started making 48-layer 3D Nand memory, which should go into mass production next year.

Steve Milligan, CEO of WD, will lead the combined company. Milligan said the acquisition is an important step in the company’s long-term strategy to become an “innovative leader” in the warehousing industry. The acquisition is subject to approval by SanDisk shareholders and is pending regulatory approvals. WD and SanDisk expect the acquisition to close in the third quarter of 2016.