KKR, INCJ plan joint bid for Toshiba's chip unit: Nikkei

(Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co LP and Japanese government-backed fund, Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ), will submit a joint offer for Toshiba Corp's <6502.T> memory chip unit, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Toshiba, the second-biggest NAND chip producer after Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>, wants to sell the majority - or all - of its flash-memory chip business, as it seeks to cover charges at its U.S. nuclear business, Westinghouse.

KKR is expected to participate next month in a second bidding round after performing due diligence on Toshiba's memory chip business, the Nikkei report said.

INCJ could invest in the Toshiba business if it made sense, Japan's industry and trade minister had said on Wednesday.

Toshiba has narrowed the field of bidders to four suitors, people familiar with the process have said: Western Digital Corp , Broadcom Ltd , South Korea's SK Hynix <000660.KS>, and Foxconn <2317.TW>, the world's largest contract electronics maker.

KKR and INCJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)