Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) subsidiary Sharp Corp yesterday said it would take full control of Sakai Display Products Corp through a stock swap.
The company, based in Osaka, Japan, reached an agreement with Sakai’s majority shareholder, World Praise Ltd, to bring Sakai completely under its corporate umbrella, Sharp chairman and CEO J.W. Tai (戴正吳) said in a statement.
Tai said the move would help make Sharp’s flat-panel business more competitive globally.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The deal would give Sharp, which owns about 20 percent of Sakai shares, priority rights to supplies from an 8.5 generation plant that the display maker partially owns in Guangzhou, China, Tai said, adding that the plant is producing 55, 65 and 75-inch flat displays for TVs.
The move took into consideration the need for a stable supply of high-quality panels to achieve Sharp’s goal of expanding its global large TV and professional display businesses amid growing global demand, the company said in a statement.
Sharp’s board last month approved the acquisition, it said.
Under the agreement with World Praise, Sharp would acquire the remaining 80 percent of Sakai shares, exchanging 11.45 of its common shares per one Sakai share.
Sharp is to issue about 38.45 million new common shares ahead of the swap, Sharp said, adding that no timetable has been set for the transaction given that is subject to regulatory approval.
Sakai, which is also headquartered in Osaka, has ￥32.49 billion (US$281.44 million) in capital and about 4.2 million shares in circulation, Sharp said.
Sakai chairman Leroy Yau (邱啟華) is World Praise’s largest investor, Sharp said.
As of the end of June last year, Sakai had 1,150 employees, and its major clients were Samsung Electronics Corp and LG Corp.
Sakai in 2020 posted a net loss of ￥101.99 billion, bringing aggregate losses since 2018 to ￥150.11 billion.
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