TAIPEI (Standard&Poor's) March 28, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. (A-/Stable/--; cnAA) would not be immediately affected by the company's strategic partnership with Sharp Corp. (BBB+/Negative/A-2). On March 27, 2012, Hon Hai announced that it would acquire a 6.59% stake in Japan-based Sharp for about New Taiwan (NT$) 16 billion and its affiliate companies would buy an additional 3.29%. At the same time, Hon Hai Chairman Terry Kuo and others will acquire a 46.5% stake in Sharp's 10th generation thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) fabrication plant in Sakai, Japan. We expect Hon Hai's leverage to remain consistent with the current ratings upon the
