The move could see Toshiba finally flog the chip business after months of delays, providing it with the funds needed to cover billions of dollars in liabilities arising from the failure of U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse.

Toshiba’s board is due to meet on today to discuss the deal. Western Digital’s potential participation will be the subject of future talks among the consortium members, they said.

Toshiba and Western Digital failed to seal a deal by a previously-planned deadline due to a disagreement over the U.S. firm’s future stake in the business, sources have said.

Failure to clinch a sale in the next few weeks could mean that it may not clear all necessary regulatory approvals by the end of the financial year in March, which would likely lead to Toshiba reporting negative equity for two years in a row, increasing its chances of its shares being delisted.

Meanwhile  Toshiba has said it has decided to build a new semiconductor manufacturing facility in Iwate, northern Japan, even as it seeks to sell its memory chip unit to raise funds.

It is considering whether its chip joint venture partner SanDisk, owned by Western Digital, will take part in the investment, it said in a statement.