Bain-led consortium in last-minute $18 bn bid for Toshiba chip unit: NHK

Apple is a new member of the consortium, which also includes South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc

A consortium led by Bain Capital and including Apple Inc has offered a revised last-ditch bid for Toshiba Corp's prized memory chip unit worth about 2 trillion yen ($18.2 billion), a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Apple, a key client for Toshiba, is a new member of the consortium, which also includes South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc

The source declined to be identified as the talks were private.

The revised bid, first reported by Japanese broadcaster NHK, comes as sources say talks between Toshiba and a Western Digital Corp-led consortium that has offered 1.9 trillion yen ($17.3 billion), have stalled.

Sources familiar with the matter said the two sides are unlikely to reach a deal by their self-imposed deadline of Thursday due to bickering over the size of Western Digital's potential future stake.

NHK said that under the new proposal, Bain and Toshiba would both hold 46 percent each of the unit.

Toshiba said it could not comment on the chip sale process. Representatives for Bain and Apple were not immediately available for comment.

The Japanese conglomerate has been trying to sell the unit for months in an attempt to cover the impact of billions of dollars in liabilities linked to US nuclear arm Westinghouse.