Toshiba in white goods deal with China's Skyworth; Skyworth shares jump

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp said it would sell stakes of 5 percent each in two white goods manufacturing units to China's Skyworth Digital Holdings - a move that comes amid a revamp of its operations in the wake of a $1.3 billion accounting scandal.The sale is part of broad agreement in which Toshiba will use the Chinese electronics maker and retailer's local distribution network to sell refrigerators, washing machines and vacuum cleaners while winding down two China sales units.Shares in Skyworth Digital jumped 7.5 percent by mid-afternoon, while the benchmark Hang Seng index was down 0.7 percent. Toshiba's shares ended down 2.4 percent, in line with the broader Tokyo market .Toshiba added that it hoped to tap Skyworth's expertise in low-cost operations to better compete in the Japanese market.Terms of the equity stake sales in the two China units were not disclosed.Following revelations that the Japanese laptops-to-nuclear power conglomerate had overstated income going back to fiscal 2008/09, Chief Executive Masashi Muromachi said this month he was considering a drastic overhaul of the company's weaker operations.(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)Join the conversation about this story
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