Sharp Corp. CEO and Chairman Tai Jeng-wu said Tuesday his company will consider investing in Japan Display Inc. if the struggling display maker asks for financial aid.
Tai made the remark at Sharp's business strategies briefing held after the company's annual shareholders meeting in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. It also comes after some consortium members who invested in Japan Display withdrew from the financing deal.
"As the CEO of a respected company in Japan, I'd like to fulfill my responsibility regarding matters affecting Japanese society," Tai said.
In April, the Chinese-Taiwanese consortium agreed to offer up to ¥80 billion ($748 million) to the display-maker, but Taiwan's TPK Holding Co. and a Taiwanese private equity fund CGL Group dropped out of the capital injection plan this month.
China's Harvest Tech Investment Management Co., the only remaining member of the consortium, has notified Japan Display it will finalize a decision on the bailout plan by Thursday, while Oasis Management Co. of Hong Kong, a potential new sponsor, will make its final decision on whether to offer financial aid by Thursday.
A plan to merge the liquid crystal display panel businesses of Sharp and Japan Display led by state-backed fund INCJ Ltd., currently a main sponsor of the display-maker, temporarily surfaced before Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. bought Sharp in August 2016.
Hit by falling demand from main client Apple Inc., Japan Display incurred a group net loss for the fifth straight year in the business year ended in March.