Hon Hai to renegotiate investment in Sharp after losses

“Foxconn Technology Group, maker of Apple Inc. iPads, plans to renegotiate the price of its investment in Sharp Corp. after the Japanese TV maker widened its loss forecast and the shares fell the most since 1974,” Tim Culpan, Mariko Yasu and Naoko Fujimura report for Bloomberg. “‘We plan to discuss the investment again, but for sure it won’t be at the original 550 yen-per-share,’ Simon Hsing, a spokesman for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the Taipei-based flagship of Foxconn, said by phone today. ‘Sharp has agreed to us taking at least the same size of stake, with the possibility of an even larger stake.'”

“Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, intends to continue with the investment, Hsing said. Foxconn group companies will no longer recognize the NT$6.4 billion ($214 million) write-off they made last quarter because of Sharp’s share price decline, Hsing said,” Culpan, Yasu and Fujimura report. “Miyuki Nakayama, a spokeswoman for Sharp, said the company hasn’t been approached by Hon Hai about renegotiating the terms.”

Culpan, Yasu and Fujimura report, “Taiwan billionaire Terry Gou and his group agreed in March to invest 133 billion yen ($1.7 billion) to rescue Sharp, the Osaka-based company that reported a 138 billion-yen quarterly loss yesterday. The investment in Japan’s biggest liquid-crystal display maker may help Foxconn guarantee access to technology for panels used in mobile phones and TVs… ‘It’s disastrous for Sharp,’ said Amir Anvarzadeh, Singapore-based manager for Asia equity sales at BGC. ‘Hon Hai has to increase its stake in Sharp to keep it alive. Or they could turn around and write it off.’ here’s no fixed timeline for when a new price will be agreed, and the original transaction has not been completed, Hsing said. Foxconn intends to proceed with its technology cooperation and taking an equity stake, he said.”

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MacDailyNews Take: If you think your job is pressure-packed, imagine being the guy responsible for increasing IGZO panel yields at Sharp.

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