Foxconn $5,3B Bid for Sharp

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iPhone maker Foxconn offers $5.3 billion to buy Sharp - Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles the bulk of the world’s iPhones, has offered about ¥625 billion ($5.3 billion) to take over troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

Sharp, which has been bailed out repeatedly by banks, is set to review a competing offer from Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, a government-backed investment fund. The Nikkei newspaper reported this week that the fund was weighing a bid that could top ¥300 billion. It wasn’t clear whether the bid would require Sharp’s main creditors to swap some of their debt for equity.

Japanese officials have expressed concern about letting Sharp come under foreign control, citing the company’s technology in display panels. Innovation Network Corp. of Japan already owns a controlling stake in Japan Display Inc., another major display maker. Officials say the two Japanese panel makers share know-how in next-generation panel technology and mass production.

“Japan’s technology is leading the rest of the world and we would like to help make it even more competitive,” industry minister Motoo Hayashi said this week.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is offering more money for Sharp and a willingness to shoulder all of its debt, people familiar with the offer said. Those conditions are meant to persuade Sharp’s creditors to make a decision based on the economics of the deal, rather than political considerations, one person familiar with the matter said.