TOKYO (AP) — The head of Foxconn said Saturday that the Taiwanese contract manufacturer would turn around struggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp as the two companies signed a takeover deal after a one-month delay.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is buying a 66 percent share in Sharp for 389 billion yen ($3.5 billion) in the first foreign takeover of a major Japanese electronics company.
The two companies held a signing ceremony Saturday at a large-screen LCD panel factory that they jointly manage outside Osaka in western Japan.
"I see us as a catalyst for change," Foxconn founder and chairman Terry Gou said at a news conference following the ceremony. "If we cannot drive change in Sharp, our global competitors will eat us alive."
Sharp, a leader in LCD technology and a maker of flat-screen televisions and consumer appliances, has been hit hard by fierce price competition for LCD displays.
Foxconn, a giant in contract manufacturing, assembles Apple iPhones and other products for name-brand companies.
The final sale price is about 20 percent less than the 489 billion yen that Sharp said Foxconn had agreed to pay a month ago. News reports say that Foxconn was concerned about taking on additional liabilities that it learned about late in negotiations.