Hisense buys Sharp TV plant

One leading Chinese TV manufacturer Hisense is expected to see an extra two billion U.S. dollars revenue in the Americas after striking a deal to buy Sharp Corp's Mexico unit.

Lin Lan, vice president of Hisense, made the projection on Tuesday, noting that improving the struggling Japanese brand's performance in the Americas, especially North America, is an urgent task.

The acquisition, worth 23.7 million U.S. dollars, involves a plant in Mexico, which can produce three million liquid crystal display (LCD) sets a year, and the right to use Sharp brands in the Americas, except Brazil.

The deal was announced earlier by Sharp in a press release and included in a filing with Shanghai Stock Exchange by Hisense.

Sharp said in the release that since entering the North American LCD television market in 2001, it has expanded its lineup of LCD televisions by increasing their size and introducing products with special features.

In recent years, however, Sharp was not able to adapt to intensifying competition. It saw significantly lower profits compared to previous projections and has been suffering a poor earnings performance.

The brands that will be licensed to Hisense include SHARP, AQUOS and Quattron, Sharp's release said.

The Sharp plant will help resolve a capacity bottleneck by Hisense in the Americas and Hisense will obtain more channel resources by using Sharp brands, Lin said.

After the transaction is completed, Hisense and Sharp will be managed as two independent brands in the Americas, Lin said. Endi