Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Terry Gou took a step forward in the hotly contested battle for control of Sharp Corp., winning an agreement to become the preferred negotiating partner for a bailout of the struggling consumer electronics maker.

Gou spoke outside the Sharp headquarters in Osaka after a meeting that stretched hours past its planned completion. He held up a paper with his own signature and that of Sharp Chief Executive Officer Kozo Takahashi and said he expects to have a final agreement by the end of February.

"We are 90 percent there, the remaining 10 percent are legal matters and are not a big deal," he told reporters, speaking in Chinese with a Japanese translator. "There will be no breakup of Sharp. I guarantee that the Sharp brand will go on."