Shares in Toshiba Corp rose as much as 4 percent in early Tuesday trading after Asahi newspaper reported it is considering giving U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Ltd the exclusive rights to negotiate to buy its prized chip unit.

Broadcom has teamed up with U.S. buyout firm Silver Lake in its bid for the chip business, sources have told Reuters previously.

A Toshiba spokeswoman declined to comment on the Asahi report.

Toshiba shares were up 2.7 percent at 262.5 yen as of 2438 GMT.

Toshiba was forced to put its asset on the block after cost overruns at its now-bankrupt U.S. nuclear unit left it scrambling for cash.