Japan Display, in need of funds, says Taiwan\'s TPK decided not to invest

Japan Display Inc on Monday said it has received notice from TPK Holding Co Ltd that the Taiwanese screen maker has decided not to invest a proposed USD 230 million, muddying the outlook for the Apple Inc supplier.

The decision is a blow to the Japanese smartphone display maker which has been seeking a cash injection to recover from the impact of slowing sales of Apple’s iPhone as well as a late shift to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens.

Japan Display had planned to raise 80 billion yen (USD 740 million) from a Chinese-Taiwanese consortium involving TPK. On Monday, it also said it had not yet received any notice from consortium members Cosgrove Global Ltd and Topnotch Corporate Ltd, from which it was expecting a combined USD 130 million.

Harvest Group and new consortium member Oasis Management Company Ltd will decide whether to invest by June 27, Japan Display said.

Japan Display was formed in 2012 by combining the liquid-crystal display businesses of Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba Corp and Sony Corp in a government-brokered deal. It went public in March 2014, at which time it was worth over 400 billion yen.

Japan Display’s share price was down as much as 11 per cent in Tokyo morning trade.