Sharp and Sony have agreed to further amend the joint
venture agreement originally executed by the parties in
July 2009, as amended in April 2011, for the
establishment and operation of Sharp Display Products
Corporation (SDP), a joint venture to produce and sell
large-sized LCD panels and modules.
The companies discussed possible further contributions
by Sony to SDP, but they have agreed that Sony will not
make additional capital injections to SDP. The parties
have also agreed to set a new time period, up to the end
of September 2012, to permit study of the future
direction of the joint venture, including with respect to
the treatment of the shares that Sony has in SDP (7.04%
of all issued shares) and possible purchases of
large-sized LCD panels and modules. Under the March 2012
amendment, Sony may require that Sharp acquire all of
Sony's shares in SDP, even before the end of September
2012, upon the occurrence of certain events such as a
transfer by Sharp to any third party of some or all of
the shares that Sharp has in SDP.
On July 1, 2009, Sharp transferred its LCD panel plant in
Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, to SDP. On December 29,
2009, Sony invested 10 billion yen into SDP in exchange
for new shares issued by SDP to Sony (representing 7.04%
of the issued shares in SDP) and, as a result, SDP became
a joint venture company of Sharp and Sony. Since then,
Sharp and Sony have continued discussion about possible
further contributions by Sony to SDP.