Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), maker of Apple Inc’s iPad and iPhone, said it “can’t fail” in the renegotiation of its proposed investment in Sharp Corp.
Talks with the Japanese company, which is forecasting a second straight annual loss, have not reached a final stage, Tai Jeng-wu (戴正吳), vice president of Hon Hai, whose trade name is Foxconn (富士康), told reporters yesterday in Sakai, Japan.
Founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), who had been scheduled to speak at the press conference after hosting a Taiwanese business delegation on a tour of a LCD panel plant in Sakai, did not attend.
Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Bloomberg
“Gou had a sudden change in his schedule,” Tai told the more than 100 reporters who crowded around him at the press conference. “We have no idea about his whereabouts for the moment.”
It is the latest turn in the ongoing saga of whether Sharp can secure the much-needed capital from Hon Hai, as the Japanese firm is fast running out of options to repair its disintegrating balance sheet.
On Aug. 2, Sharp widened its full-year loss forecast eightfold to ¥250 billion (US$3.8 billion), more than its own market value, because it expects losses at its TV and LCD businesses to be worse than previously forecast.
Hon Hai is renegotiating its March deal to take a 9.9 percent stake in Sharp for ¥67 billion after shares of the Osaka-based company fell. Gou invested ¥66 billion of his own money in Sakai Display Products Corp to jointly run the unit with Sharp and said he expects to sell shares to the public in Taiwan in 2014.
“We can’t fail in this tie-up with Sharp,” Tai said.
Gou and Sharp President Takashi Okuda were expected to meet yesterday evening or tonight. The two executives have not met since March, Tai said.
The deal would give the Taiwanese company access to Sharp’s portfolio of TVs, displays, phones and home appliances, helping it compete with South Korean Samsung Electronics Co.
Gou said in Tokyo on Tuesday the two companies need to tackle Japan’s high tax rate, strong yen and expensive labor force to make their tie-up succeed.
Additional reporting by Staff writer
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