TAIPEI/TOKYO Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou is once again defying his deputies with his determination to acquire embattled Japanese electronics titan Sharp, but whether his colossal gamble will pay off remains to be seen.
A yearslong effort by Gou's Hon Hai Precision Industry to acquire Sharp and its advanced panel technology appeared to bear fruit on Feb. 25, when the board of the Japanese conglomerate voted in favor of a 700 billion yen ($6.2 billion) bailout proposal from its Taiwanese suitor, rather than the 300 billion yen rescue offered by the Japanese government-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan.
