Western Digital to sell partial Sandisk stake for $3.17 billion to cut debt

Hard disk drive maker Western Digital (WDC) plans to raise $3.17 ‌billion by selling some of ‌its stake in former unit Sandisk (SNDK) through a ​secondary share sale at a 7.7% discount to its last close, the flash drive maker said on Wednesday.

Western Digital is ‌expected to ⁠swap the 5.8 million shares up for sale with debt held ⁠by affiliates of J.P. Morgan and BofA Securities. The two banks, who ​are also ​the lead bookrunners ​for the offering, ‌will offload the shares on behalf of their affiliates.

Sandisk shares fell about 1.5% in premarket trading on Wednesday. Bloomberg News first reported the price range of ‌the offering.

The sale will ​leave Western Digital ​with a stake ​of nearly $1 billion, according ‌to Reuters calculations, which the ​company intends ​to dispose of eventually. Reuters