Taiwan News
EDITORIAL
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer
After years of moves backward and forward, Japan’s troubled Sharp
In this Feb. 4, 2016 file photo, employees enter and exit Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Japanese media report on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 that troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp has agreed to a takeover offer from Taiwanese company Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn. (AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)
Corporation seems finally to have reached a decision and put its future in the hands of one of Taiwan’s most prominent and outspoken tycoons, Terry Gou and his Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
While the latter said it would wait and first take a look at the documents before signing amid reports of a deal originating with the Japanese media, it looks like the four-year on-again off-again “romance,” as it has been dubbed in Taiwan, has finally reached a conclusion. A review of the deal, the largest case of Taiwanese investment overseas ever, is still pending with the Investment Commission under the island’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Sharp was once one of Japan’s global brands, often mentioned in one breath with Sony and Panasonic. However, the Osaka-based company has fallen on hard times, facing heavy debt and recurring losses, partly due to strong competition from South Korea and China for its liquid-crystal display television business. When a Japanese company hits dire times, the government and the business world will usually collaborate to provide a Japanese way out of the doldrums.
However, in this case, Sharp picked Hon Hai’s offer over one from a local government-backed rival, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, reportedly because that contender was planning to take the company apart and sell off the parts it did not want. [FULL STORY]
