Con il comunicato stampa congiunto di seguito allegato, Sharp Corporation e Sony Corporation hanno annunciato il raggiungimento dell'accordo definitivo per la formazione di una Joint Venture, in gergo "Joint Venture Agreement", che permetterà una sinergia tra le due organizzazioni nel settore della produzione e della vendita di pannelli LCD di grandi dimensioni e dei componenti per i televisori LCD più in generale.
Con questa mossa Sony punta a risollevare le sue sorti finanziarie e, più in dettaglio, a fronteggiare al meglio la concorrenza di Samsung sul fronte dei televisori LCD, dove la propria linea di soluzioni di fascia medio-alta Bravia ha sostanzialmente perso il confronto con i prodotti del competitor coreano, contribuendo in maniera determinate ad una flessione del 19.2% del fatturato e ad una perdita netta equivalente a 278 milioni di euro nel primo trimestre dell'esercizio 2009-2010.
Sharp Corporation ("Sharp") and Sony Corporation ("Sony") today entered into an agreement (the "Joint Venture Agreement") to establish a joint venture company to produce and sell large-sized LCD panels and modules.
On July 1, 2009, Sharp split out its new LCD panel plant located in Sakai City, which is under construction, and transferred it to Sharp Display Products Corporation ("SDP"), its wholly-owned subsidiary. SDP is scheduled to commence operations in October 2009. On December 29, 2009, as the first step toward the final investment ratio (66% by Sharp and 34% by Sony), Sony will invest 10 billion yen into SDP in exchange for new shares to be issued by SDP to Sony as third-party allocation. As a result of this transaction, SDP will become a joint venture company of Sharp and Sony on the same day. The Joint Venture Agreement further provides that Sony will make a number of additional capital injections to SDP subject to conditions set forth in the Joint Venture Agreement.
SDP will seek to maximize the advantages gained from using the world's first 10th generation glass substrates to produce large-sized LCD panels and modules that deliver the industry's highest levels of quality, cost and performance.
Sharp and Sony will further discuss joint development of components for LCD modules to strengthen their mutual collaborative relationship.
News Source: Sharp & Sony Press Release
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