Foxconn agrees to acquire controlling interest in Sharp for $3.5 billion

(credit: Fang Hsieh)

On Wednesday morning, Bloomberg and Reuters reported that the struggling Japanese giant Sharp had sold a two-thirds stake to Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contractor manufacturer, for 389 billion Japanese yen ($3.5 billion, £2.4 billion).

The offer is about $1 billion less than what Foxconn had been expected to offer last month.

The deal, if it is formally approved by both corporate boards, is expected to represent a crowning achievement for Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, who hopes that his newly enlarged firm can become a major supplier of smartphone screens. At the moment, Sharp is one of just three screen suppliers to Apple.

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