The Taiwanese company that assembles Apple’s iPhones agreed Wednesday to buy control of financially struggling Sharp Corp. for $3.5 billion in the first foreign takeover of a major — producer.
The acquisition by Foxconn unites Sharp, a pioneering electronics brand founded in 1912, with a company six decades younger that is little known to consumers but has grown rapidly as a contract manufacturer for global brands.
The commitment by Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., to buy 66 percent of Osaka-basedSharp followed weeks of uncertainty over what the Japanese company said was a deal at a higher price.
