TOKYO: Apple supplier Japan Display said on Thursday that Chinese investment firm Harvest Group would withdraw from a bailout of the cash-strapped smartphone screen maker, increasing the chance of the 80 billion yen ($743 million) deal collapsing.
The pullout of Harvest, which had offered to inject three-quarters of the bailout, threatens the survival of Japan Display, which has been hit by Apple’s slowing iPhone sales and a late shift to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens.
But Minoru Kikuoka, Japan Display’s chief financial officer, said at a press briefing there were no worries about an immediate cash crunch, thanks to loans extended by Japanese government-backed fund INCJ, its biggest shareholder.