TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan Display <6740.T> said on Friday it has agreed to sell a smartphone screen plant to Sharp Corp <6753.T> for $390 million, raising funds to repay debt it owes Apple Inc <AAPL.O> for the plant construction costs.
The company said in a statement it will also sell screen plant equipment at the central Japan factory to “an overseas customer” for $285 million. Sources have said the customer is Apple.
As Japan Display owes Apple more than $702.5 million for the $1.5 billion cost of building the plant five years ago, Japan Display said the $675 million funds to be raised from the plant and equipment sale would be used for repayment.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
