According to the Nikkei financial daily Toshiba wants to flog a 20 pecent interest in the unit for about $1.77 billion-$2.66 billion while retaining a majority stake.
Other than Western Digital, US investment funds are showing interest in Toshiba's semiconductor business. Of course, it is all rumour and speculation as Toshiba and Western Digital are not saying anything publicly.
If the Nikkei is correct, the new chip business company will be created as early as the first half of this year, the Japanese daily reported.
Toshiba is still recovering from a $1.3 billion accounting scandal in 2015, but had net sales of 1.58 trillion yen from its semiconductor business for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016.