Western Digital Sees Closing SanDisk Acquisition by June Quarter

Western Digital is “pleased with the progress we're making in obtaining required regulatory approvals” for its SanDisk acquisition (see 1510210027), CEO Stephen Milligan said Thursday on an earnings call. It has always been Western Digital’s goal “to close the acquisition as soon as possible,” Milligan said. That the FTC completed its antitrust review “without issuing a second request” for information is “confirmation of our view that this transaction is pro-competitive,” he said. “Based on our work with other agencies around the world, we currently anticipate that the acquisition will close in the June quarter.” The SanDisk acquisition remains important “to our overall strategic plan,” he said. “Once we close the acquisition, we will have the broadest set of products to offer our customers, a deep technology base across non-volatile memory and rotating magnetic media and an expanded addressable market.”