Taiwan-China alliance investing in JDI may break the impasse

Japan Display (JDI) said on the 14th that although the 14th was the decision-making deadline for the group of Taiwanese and mainland companies to invest in JDI, it had not yet received the final decision of the group members on whether to invest, which may enable JDI to reach a bailout plan as expected on the 14th. JDI's stock price closed 3.4% in Tokyo on the 14th.

JDI said it would disclose the decision immediately if it received it from Taiwanese and mainland investment groups, or if further negotiations were needed.

Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that insiders said that the alliance, including TPK Optoelectronics and Harvest Technology Investment Management Co., Ltd., was still discussing the terms of investment with FDI, hoping to complete the transaction before the end of the year, but JDI hoped to reach an agreement earlier and was also seeking alternatives. Spokespersons of TPK and JDI declined to comment on the news. JDI's stock price had already fallen 11.9% on the 13th.

JDI announced this week that it will cut more than 25% of its workforce, reduce the scale of its troubled mobile business, and all employees, including senior executives, will take pay cuts. JDI CEO Yoshiyuki Tsukizaki is scheduled to step down on September 30 and will be succeeded by Chief Financial Officer Minoru Kikuoka.

JDI is an Apple supplier, but has been in trouble due to sluggish demand and technological changes, and has suffered losses for five consecutive fiscal years. The smartphone market continues to shrink, and Apple, JDI's largest customer, has also turned to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, but JDI has not mass-produced such products.

Over the past two years, JDI has been negotiating with potential investors, including Apple, Huawei, and BOE. In April this year, JDI agreed to accept a total of 117 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) in funding from the Taiwan-China Alliance and the Innovation Organization of Japan (INCJ). The Japanese panel manufacturer said two weeks ago that the Taiwan-China Alliance was moving towards finalizing the bailout plan before June 14.