Sharp reportedly accepts $5.9 billion Foxconn takeover offer
Japanese electronics and PV module manufacturer Sharp Corp. has accepted a $5.9 billon acquisition offer from Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., which is trading as Foxconn Technology Group (Foxconn). According to Bloomberg, which cites an article from Japanese broadcaster NHK, Sharp has agreed to accept Foxconn’s offer after the Taiwanese conglomerate decided to raise the sum it intended to invest in the transaction from $5.3 billion to $5.9 billion. Sharp said it expects to sign the final agreement for the operation in one month. The Wall Street Journal revealed Foxconn’s plan to acquire Sharp in mid-January. A few days ago, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reported that Japan’s state-backed fund Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) offered to rescue Sharp and to later merge its solar business with Solar Frontier, the PV unit of Japan-based oil company Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. INCJ intended to invest ¥300 billion ($2.5 billion) in the operation and raise an additional ¥350 billion of financial assistance from Sharp's two main lenders. In its financial results for the first nine months of fiscal year 2015, which will end Mar. 31, 2016, Sharp reported that its Energy Solutions division, which includes the company’s solar energy business, generated net sales of ¥113.3 billion ($961.9 million) for the period, down 42.4% from the same period in fiscal year 2014. The division posted an operating loss of ¥7.7 billion for the first three quarters of fiscal 2015.
