Terry Gou is heading back to Japan.
The head of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., who waged a years-long battle against regulators and rivals for control of Sharp Corp., said he is "very serious" about bidding for Toshiba Corp.'s memory chip business. Toshiba plans to sell some or all of the operation to shore up its balance sheet and is soliciting bids from financial and strategic investors.
Gou sees an opportunity at Toshiba similar to Sharp. Toshiba's operation will be able to expand if it has access to more capital resources, while Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, needs the target's supplies as it builds iPhones and other devices for its customers. Flash-memory will be used in increasing quantities for products like 8K high-resolution displays.