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Sweating Sharp cops a boost as Intel sniffs around
Chipzilla could be fixin' to snork up ¥30bn stake
Struggling electronics firm Sharp got a welcome boost today from rumours that Intel was looking to invest over ¥30bn for a large stake in its business.
The Japanese company's shares rose nearly five per cent in Tokyo trading to ¥212 after The Mainichi newspaper reported that it was in talks with chip giant Intel.
According to the Japanese newspaper's unnamed source, Intel likes the look of Sharp's LCD tech and wants to team up with the firm on smartphones and other products.
Sharp is in dire need of a cash injection after it was left in the lurch by Foxconn-daddy Hon Hai Group.
The group had agreed to nab a 9.9 per cent stake in Sharp for ¥66.9bn (£547m, $853.8m) and put another ¥66bn (£539.58m, $842.3m) into its TV business. But it dropped out of the deal when Sharp's shares fell and failed to negotiate new terms it was happy with.
With or without a new investor, Sharp has restructuring plans in motion including letting 5,000 employees go, selling plants to Hon Hai, mortgaging its HQ and cutting down production of solar cells. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
