Hon Hai May Raise Offer For Sharp: report
Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world's largest contract electronics maker, is planning to raise its offer to acquire Sharp by 40 percent, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said Friday. The report said that Hon Hai, known as Foxconn, is likely to raise the acquisition price to 700 billion Japanese yen ($5.93 billion) from its previous offer of 500 billion yen.
The new offer will be equivalent to more than three times Sharp's market capitalization, based on the Japanese firm's closing price on Thursday, the report added.
Japanese media had previously reported that the Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), which is sponsored by the Japanese government, is also studying a buy-out deal to buy Sharp.
The report said the 700 billion yen offer will be the last bid to be presented by Hon Hai.
Hon Hai agreed in March 2012 to buy a 9.9 percent stake in Sharp for 66.9 billion yen, but the deal fell apart in 2013 after a weak earnings report from the Japanese firm sent its shares into a tailspin.