TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd (>> Kobe Steel, Ltd.), embroiled in a data falsification scandal that has roiled global supply chains, will hold a first round of bidding on Friday in the planned sale of a real estate unit, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

Japan's No.3 steelmaker has hired Mizuho Securities, the brokerage arm of Mizuho Financial Group Inc (>> Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.), as an advisor for the sale of more than two-thirds of Shinko Real Esate, Bloomberg said, citing unidentified sources. The news agency didn't say how much the asset might be worth.

Both Kobe Steel and Mizuho Securities declined to comment.

Kobe Steel has said about 500 companies received falsely certified products. A person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that data tampering on products went on for more than a decade.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

Stocks treated in this article : Kobe Steel, Ltd., Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.