No deadline yet for Sharp, Foxconn deal

Feb 29, 2016, 20:27

Though Hon Hai declined to make public the nature of the "new material information", worldwide media reported that Sharp provided its Taiwanese suitor with a list of 300 billion to 350 billion yen in contingent liabilities.

It would seem that these concerns were set aside in the agreement between Foxconn and Sharp.

Foxconn's acquisition bid of Sharp Corporation was tipped to be the biggest Japanese electronics firm takeover by a foreign company in history. In a brief statement late on Friday, Foxconn said: "Most of the contents of the material information Foxconn received on Wednesday morning, before Sharp's board meeting began on Thursday, had not been previously proposed nor offered during negotiations between the two sides". Foxconn founder Terry Gou and Sharp CEO Kozo Takahashi met in China, said another person familiar with the matter.

Oscars 2016: Kiwi Lesley Vanderwalt takes Make-up and Hair styling award
The 27-year-old Sweden-born actress was ubiquitous in 2015, also winning awards for her performance in the sci-fi " Ex Machina ". The wins at times felt secondary to the sharp, unflinching hosting of Rock, in his second go around.

It's still too early to tell whether Hon Hai will lower the value of its offer or change its bid in some other way, the sources said. However, it is important to note that any change to the financial implications of the deal would require Sharp's board to vote again on the details of the proposal.

Hon Hai's Gou has fought for months to take over Sharp, battling a competing offer from a once-favored domestic bidder, Innovation Network Corp. of Japan. "It's hard to judge whether Foxconn is shaking up Sharp or they really need some time to check the facts", said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo.

The $6 billion acquisition deal entails that Foxconn shall own 65.9 percent of Sharp through the purchase of 484.3 billion yen in additional shares at a lucrative discount and 100 billion yen worth of preferred shares that are now held by Mitsubishi UFJ, and Mizhuo Financial Group. It said in a statement on Friday that it has been properly disclosing its contingent liabilities, which stood at around 80 billion yen as of end-2015.

Starbucks Tightens Up Rewards Program, Now Based On Dollars Spent
Still, it's clear that Starbucks's big new announcement favors those who like to spend a little more on their morning cuppa. The company says customers can collect stars in a variety of ways beyond visiting a Starbucks or Teavanna store.

The embattled Japanese display maker issued the statement in response to a weekend report in the Nikkei business daily that it was aiming to seal an agreement with Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (2317.TW), on March 7.

However, if Foxconn is able to work around the situation and continue to acquire Sharp, it would become a more valuable Apple supplier as it could use Sharp's assets to mass produce OLED displays by 2018, which fits the timeline for Apple to adopt the displays to be used in its iPhones. Sharp would keep its brand under new ownership and has pledged to maintain current employment levels.

Though the contingent liabilities, which are triggered by events such as restructuring or layoffs, could reach ￥300 billion, they could also be much lower, the people familiar with the matter said. Besides the share price decline, it also faces the expiration of credit lines with its banks at the end of March. Sharp, a loss-making Japanese display maker, announced on Thursday it had made a decision to sell a two-thirds stake to Foxconn, in a deal worth an estimated $5.8 billion.

Oscars 2016: The complete list of winners
Host Chris Rock cut straight to the controversy over Hollywood's lack of diversity as he opened the 88th Academy Awards. These limited resources are stored in armoured tanker trucks in order to safeguard these scarce commodities.