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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Western Digital's acquisition of SanDisk has received regulatory approval [tomshardware.com] from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce:

Western Digital announced the $19 billion SanDisk acquisition in October 2015 [tomsitpro.com] and that its shareholders approved the acquisition in March 2016 [tomsitpro.com], which left MOFCOM (the Chinese Ministry of Commerce) approval as the only remaining barrier to the merger. WD announced today that it has received regulatory approval from MOFCOM to proceed, and the transaction closes on May 12--a scant two days away. SanDisk is one of the early leaders of NAND development and holds over 5,000 patents, but broader management issues led to a dramatic weakening of the company's prospects last year. The resultant crash of SanDisk's stock price opened the door for WD to step in and purchase the company.

WD's absorption of SanDisk will be happening as the company continues to keep its acquired former hard disk competitor HGST at arm's length for another two years (a MOFCOM requirement).

Previously: Western Digital Acquires SanDisk, MyPassport 256-bit AES Encryption "Useless" [soylentnews.org]
Western Digital, SanDisk, and the NAND Market [soylentnews.org]

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