Joint Venture Between Western Digital (49%) and Chinese Unisplendour (51%)

Western Digital Corp. and Unisplendour Corporation Limited (Unis) announced an agreement to form a joint venture to market and sell Western Digital’s current data center storage systems in China and to develop data center storage solutions for the Chinese market in the future.

The joint venture will be owned 51% by Unis and its subsidiary, Unissoft (Wuxi) Group Co., Ltd., and 49% by Western Digital. It will combine Unis’ knowledge of the Chinese market with Western Digital’s storage solutions portfolio.

“China is a fast-growing enterprise IT market. This joint venture is a useful opportunity to offer our solutions in this dynamic market while working with a company which provides key insights into China,” said Western Digital CEO Steve Milligan. “With Unis’ experience, together we can offer a portfolio of storage solutions that is tailored to the needs of China-based customers. We also look forward to maintaining strong relationships with our existing partners in China.“

“We are excited to offer our knowledge of the Chinese IT space in order to bring Western Digital’s portfolio of storage solutions to market,” said Weiguo Zhao, chairman, Tsinghua Unigroup and Unisplendour. “Our track-record of working with global technology companies has positioned us well as Western Digital’s partner in this endeavor, and we look forward to capturing the attractive growth opportunity in China together.”

The transaction has been approved by the boards of each company, and the joint venture is expected to become operational by the second calendar quarter of 2016, pending regulatory approvals.

The joint venture will be based in China.

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2015.10.02 | Press Release