What They Say
Various websites have reported that Sharp has sold all its shares in Sakai Display Products Corp, the G10 fab that was at one time the jewel in its crown as an LCD maker. It had held a 24.55% share of voting rights in the firm.
What We Think
This doesn’t seem to have been widely reported and was published via the Sharp Investor Relations page. Although this is not the end of LCD making in Japan, it is starting to get close to an end to ownership of display making. It would have been hard to imagine this happening just a few years ago. The name of the buyer of the shares was not identified. However prices are strong for LCD at the moment, so it doesn’t look as bad a deal as it might have done a year or so ago. It’s only a couple of years ago that Sharp’s CEO was saying that he would like to bring SDP fully back as a subsidiary.
Sharp said that it would maintain a collaboration and partnership relationship with SDP in intellectual property rights areas and that it had secured a supply agreement for LCDs after the deal. The deal will take place on 15th March. (BR)
