Invested up to 2.1 billion U.S. dollars IDM giant Rohm will participate in the Toshiba merger

Japanese chipmaker Rohm and automaker Suzuki have joined the bid to buy Toshiba, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

A consortium led by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) is considering a bid for Toshiba at a valuation of 2.4 trillion yen ($16.1 billion), in what could be Asia's biggest takeover this year.

Rohm will invest as much as 300 billion yen ($2.1 billion) in the proposal, the largest contribution of any Japanese company involved in the merger, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Suzuki will also invest tens of billions of yen.

Nikkei predicts that ROHM's investment will be made up through capital contributions and other means. In response to Nikkei's questions, Rohm said it would not comment.

According to previous reports, the consortium led by JIP had previously obtained Toshiba's preferred bidder status. In addition, JIP, which has been inviting Japanese companies including ORIX and Chubu Electric Power to join the consortium, has been given a month to come up with detailed proposals including financing, one of which is financing. The offer could change as the government-backed JIC-led consortium prepares a bid and JIP has yet to finalize its partner's equity commitment, the people said.