The following appears on Bloomberg.com
Foxconn Technology Group is in the final stages of negotiations to buy Sharp Corp. in a deal that could be worth about 500 billion yen ($4.4 billion). Once finalized, the Taiwan-based assembler of Apple Inc.’s iPhones and iPads will take control of a 104-year-old company that played a key role in Japan’s post-war economic resurgence.
Below is a timeline of events leading up to the sale:
1912: Founder Tokuji Hayakawa, a metalworker, invents a belt buckle that works without belt holes. He then develops an always-sharp mechanical pencil, and later names the company after the hit product.
1923: A massive earthquake destroys Sharp’s factory in Tokyo; Hayakawa’s wife and children die in the disaster. Lenders call in their loans and he loses most of Sharp Pencil to creditors. Hayakawa later rebuilds the business in Osaka and starts making radio receivers.
