KKR explores "total or partial" sale of Hitachi Kokusai – FT

(Reuters) – Private Equity Company KKR & Co Inc. is investigating the "total or partial" sale of its Hitachi Kokusai chips unit and has attracted the interest of two Chinese buyers, the Financial Times reported Sunday, citing people close to the situation.

The sources did not reveal the names of potential Chinese buyers, but said it was a large industrial enterprise and a state-funded fund. The report did not estimate the value of the transaction but said that KKR would sell with a profit.

The Japanese manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, Hitachi Kokusai, was bought by KKR in December 2017 as part of a $ 2.2 billion contract (1.68 billion pounds).

In response to a request for comment, KKR stated that it can not comment on market speculation.

Hitachi Kokusai has not responded to a request for comment.

(Report by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, edited by Sonya Hepinstall)