Western Digital in Divestiture Transaction to Obtain Regulatory Clearances for $4.8 Billion Hitachi Global Storage Division Acquisition

Cleary Gottlieb represented Western Digital, a global provider of solutions for the collection, storage, management, protection and use of digital content, in a divestiture transaction in connection with the regulatory clearance process for Western Digital’s purchase of Viviti Technologies (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Holdings), a manufacturer of digital storage devices, from Hitachi Ltd.

In response to the European Commission’s review of the Hitachi transaction, Western Digital committed to sell certain assets relating to its and HGST’s 3.5” hard disk drive business. On January 20, Western Digital agreed to sell certain assets relating to its and HGST’s 3.5” hard disk drive business and to license certain related intellectual property to global electronics manufacturer Toshiba. In a related transaction, Western Digital agreed to purchase from Toshiba all of the issued and outstanding shares of Toshiba Storage Device Thailand. Following the completion of the Hitachi acquisition of HGST on March 8 and receipt of required regulatory approvals in the United States, Europe, China, Japan and South Korea, Western Digital closed the divestiture transaction and the acquisition of TSDT on May 15.