Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has reached a basic agreement with Sharp Corp’s banks over a ¥300 billion (US$2.69 billion) line of credit, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun, potentially clearing a hurdle toward a takeover of the Japanese electronics maker.
Under the agreement, Sharp would be able to borrow from its main banks, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, if it suffers losses from potential liabilities or needs new investments, the Japanese daily said, without giving the source of the information.
The banks are also considering waiting for about one month on Sharp’s repayment of about ¥510 billion in loans due at the end of this month if talks with Hon Hai, known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康) outside Taiwan, are prolonged, according to the newspaper.
Sharp spokesman Yoshifumi Seki declined to comment, while telephone calls to Mizuho and Mitsubishi UFJ yesterday went unanswered.
Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo (胡國輝) said in an e-mail that “there is no update from our side.”
The credit line would move forward a more than ¥600 billion takeover that has been stalled almost since Sharp’s board agreed to it last month.
Sharp has been losing money for years and its need for financial support set off the takeover battle between Foxconn and Innovation Network Corp of Japan, a government-backed investment fund.
The company’s cash totaled ¥208.5 billion at the end of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
SHARES DOWN: The top 10 companies all decreased in market value last year, due to COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising interest rates and global inflation Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the top spot among the largest companies in the Asian supply chain in terms of market capitalization, Digitimes Research said. Citing its Asia Supply Chain Market Cap 100 rankings for last year, the research firm last week said TSMC’s market cap was US$378.45 billion, the highest among Asian suppliers, although it dropped by nearly US$200 billion during the year. The 34.3 percent fall in TSMC’s market cap was the largest decline of any company in the survey last year, but was typical of how many top-ranking companies fared. The top 10 in Digitimes’ rankings all saw
Sex worker Nina relies on an apartment in the Turkish city of Istanbul as a relatively safe space to meet clients, but the 29-year-old is worried about making enough to cover the rent after the landlord doubled the price. As a surge in inflation fuels a housing crisis in Turkey, LGBTQ+ sex workers like Nina say landlords are forcing them to accept huge rent hikes for fear of being evicted. Nina, who uses the pronouns they and them, worries about how they will pay the increased monthly rent of 8,000 Turkish lira (US$425.11) on top of rising bills. “There are gas, electricity, water,
Singapore is seeing an influx of ultra-wealthy families from China looking to protect their wealth from a government that increasingly views them with suspicion. The Chinese Communist Party’s recent crackdowns on tech billionaires and tax-shy celebrities, as well as three years of “zero COVID” policies, have led many rich Chinese to look for a safe haven. Nervous over the fate of their fortunes, some of the country’s mega-rich have since booked tickets to Singapore, insiders said. The key Asian financial hub ticks all the boxes for relocating tycoons. Singapore has been ruled by one party for the past six decades, and labor strikes and
Samsung Electronics Co has begun making its fold and flip smartphones as well as its latest Galaxy S23 flagship in India, renewing its focus on a key growth market where Chinese devices have eaten into its sales. The South Korean giant’s Indian unit previously imported some of its premium flip and fold devices into the world’s second-biggest smartphone market, but it is now assembling its entire phone portfolio locally, said Raju Pullan, the head of Samsung’s Indian mobile business. “That also builds on our strong commitment to growing the India market,” Pullan said yesterday, declining to comment on whether the locally assembled