OSAKA, March 6 – Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp Corporation expects to receive about 10 billion yen (about US$108 million or about RM335.1 million) in investment from Samsung Electronics, the world’s No. 1 smartphone maker, China’s Xinhua news agency said, quoting a local press report on Wednesday.
The Osaka-based company is in the final stage of talks with the South Korean electronics giant for the capital tie-up while the two rival companies are discussing a long-term arrangement to supply Sharp’s LCD panels to Samsung according to the daily Mainichi Shimbun.
The report said that the 10 billion yen investment will allow the South Korean manufacture to acquire a three percent stake in Sharp, adding that the deal is expected to improve the Japanese electronics maker’s financial situation as well as the utilisation rate of its LCD panel plants.
Concerning the local report on the latest negotiations, a spokesperson for the Sharp told Xinhua that the two companies are still deliberating details of the deal but the final decision is expected to be made at the board meeting held on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the report pointed out that Sharp would no longer count on a planned capital injection from Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in its midterm business plans expected to be announced in late March since uncertainty over the two companies’ equity partnership widened.
In March last year, the two companies reached a basic agreement for Hon Hai to purchase newly issued Sharp shares at 550 yen each, but the Taiwanese firm has been seeking to revise the terms of their agreement over the past months after Sharp’s share price plunged in response to ballooning losses.
BERNAMA
