Sharp and Pioneer Join Forces

At a news conference, Sharp and Pioneer announced to have entered into a business and capital alliance agreement:

Taking such circumstances into consideration, Sharp and Pioneer have decided to enter into a business and capital alliance agreement to create new business and improve both companies' corporate value, by utilization of both companies' resources and through active cooperation, including efficient implementation of both companies' strengths and specializations, such as imaging and display technology, in which Sharp and Pioneer both specialize, and also Sharp's digital technology, communication technology and device technology, as well as Pioneer's optical disk technology, acoustic technology and car electronics technology

Based on the current agreement, Sharp will own 14.7% stake in Pioneer (US$357 million), while the latter will acquire 0.9% stake in Sharp (US$171 million). On the technology point of view, both companies will share their expertise for the markets mentioned above. Sharp will gain access to the huge patent library owned by Pioneer. Next generation DVD related products originating from this partnership will benefit from Pioneer's experience in optical disk technology and Sharp's expertise in blue-violet laser diode.