Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Sharp Corp yesterday denied having picked a date to sign the agreement on Hon Hai’s acquisition of the ailing Japanese electronics company.
Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbu cited sources close to the deal as saying that the two sides are to finalize an agreement on Monday next week, but Hon Hai and Sharp said in a joint statement that was not the case.
The firms are making efforts to reach a satisfactory agreement based on practical principles as soon as possible, the statement said.
Sharp’s board of directors on Thursday accepted a buyout offer from Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), with the Taiwanese firm acquiring a 65.9 percent stake in Sharp, with Sharp remaining an independent company.
However, just hours later Hon Hai released a statement saying that it would hold off on signing a final agreement, because it needed to clarify “new material information” received from Sharp late on Wednesday.
Although Hon Hai declined to make public the nature of the “new material information,” wire reports said that Sharp provided the Taiwanese firm with a list of ¥300 billion to ¥350 billion (US$2.63 billion to US$3.07 billion) in contingent liabilities.
Contingent liabilities refer to a potential obligation that only becomes a liability if a particular situation occurs.
Sharp president Kozo Takahashi took a delegation to Shenzhen, China, on Friday to meet with Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) in a bid to salvage the deal.
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