SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. saidWednesday it will invest 10.4 billion yen
($111.5 million) in SharpCorp. to secure a supply of large-size LCD panels.The agreementgives Samsung a 3
percent stake in Osaka-based Sharp and a supply oflarge-size LCD panels for televisions. Samsung said in a
statement thatthe investment will help strengthen Sharp’s LCD panel business. TheSouth Korean company known
for its Galaxy smartphones and tablets saidit will not be involved in Sharp’s management.The alliance is
aboost for the troubled Japanese company that has been seeking to raisecapital as part of its turnaround
plans. Sharp shares jumped 14.1percent in Tokyo trading.The maker of Igzo display panels andAquos TVs has
struggled to stay afloat as competition from South Koreanand Chinese TV makers squeezed Japanese
manufacturers and their abilityto make the big capital investments needed in the hyper competitive
LCDindustry.Sharp has been in talks with Taiwan-based Hon HaiPrecision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn,
to raise capital but nodeal has been reached. Sharp announced in December a 9.9 billion yeninvestment from
Qualcomm Inc. to jointly develop new display technology.Sharphas LCD panel factories in Kameyama and Sakai
in Japan and producessmall- and medium-sized panels for smartphones as well as large panelsfor TVs.The deal
with Samsung helps Sharp ramp up its displaypanel production. Sharp’s panel clients include Samsung’s rival
AppleInc. and Samsung, though the South Korea company gets most of its panelsupply from its affiliate
Samsung Display Co.Sharp forecasts arecord 450 billion yen ($5 billion) loss for its business year
throughMarch and has struggled to cut costs and reshape its business, partlybecause it has invested in
expensive plants in Japan that make panelsfor which prices have fallen sharply overseas. The plants embody
Sharp’sprized technology, but they also make the company hostage to the yen’sswings.The agreement is the
latest investment in Japanese firmsby Samsung, which sits on a stockpile of cash and has strong
overseasbuying power because of the won’s rise. In January, it acquired a 5percent stake in Wacom Co., a
Japanese firm with digital pen technology.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.