Orix Corp has decided it could invest about 300 billion yen ($2 billion) in a consortium to buy out Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba Corp, the Nikkei Business magazine reported on its website on Friday.

A consortium led by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) has been granted preferred bidder status by Toshiba in a second round of bidding, though the conglomerate is still open to proposals from others.

JIP has asked multiple companies to join the consortium, including Orix and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc.

An Orix spokesperson said the company has been considering the matter regarding Toshiba, but declined to comment further.

Reuters