Toshiba Corp. has set up a team to review a buyout offer by British private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to make the Japanese electronics and infrastructure giant private, sources close to the matter said Friday.

Toshiba President and CEO Nobuaki Kurumatani told reporters the company will discuss the matter "at a rigid framework with a limited number of members" in a bid to prevent information leakage.

The review team is led by Senior Executive Vice President Masayasu Toyohara.

Kurumatani said the organization excludes interested parties on Toshiba's board, including himself who served as chairman of CVC's Japan unit before joining Toshiba, and Yoshiaki Fujimori, who is an outside board member and an adviser for the British investment firm's arm in Japan.

Osamu Nagayama, chairman of Toshiba's board, said Friday that CVC would seek financing assistance from certain co-investors and financial institutions.

"We expect that such a financing process would require a substantial amount of time and involve complexity for consideration," Nagayama said in a statement.

Toshiba's shares closed Friday at 4,265 yen, down 5.4 percent, from the previous day at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, extending losses following the release of the statement by the company's board chairman.

CVC'S plan needs approval from antitrust authorities, while the Japanese government would scrutinize the proposal as Toshiba has sensitive businesses including nuclear power and defense operations in terms of national security.

"This initial proposal by CVC was completely unsolicited and not initiated by Toshiba by all means. The proposal does not go through a detailed review of Toshiba's business," Nagayama said.

==Kyodo

© Kyodo News International, Inc., source Newswire