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Western Digital to Sell $3.17 Billion Sandisk Stake at 7.7% Discount to Reduce Debt

Bank affiliates will take the shares in a debt swap that lowers the company’s leverage.

Overview

  • The company is offering more than 5.8 million Sandisk shares at $545 each in a secondary sale.
  • The disposal is structured to exchange the shares for debt held by affiliates of J.P. Morgan and BofA, which will sell the stock on their affiliates’ behalf.
  • Western Digital expects to retain roughly $1 billion of Sandisk stock after the transaction, with plans to exit the remainder over time.
  • Sandisk shares slipped about 2.1% in after-hours trading following the announcement, according to market reporting.
  • The selldown follows a late-January quarter in which Western Digital beat guidance and cited stronger AI-driven data-center demand.