Sharp in talks with Lenovo for TV tie-up - Nikkei

A sign hangs in the Sharp booth on the first day of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas January 8, 2013.

REUTERS - Struggling Japanese TV-maker Sharp Corp(6753.T) is in the final stages of talks with Lenovo Group Ltd(0992.HK) to form a television operations partnership in China the Nikkei reported.

Sharp plans to sell its subsidiary operating a LCD TV assembly plant in Nanjing to the Chinese PC maker this year and convert its other Chinese subsidiaries into 50 percent joint ventures, the Japanese daily said.

The two companies plan to enter markets other than China, including southeast Asia and South America, Nikkei reported.

Sharp, which has been losing money for years, signed a 360 billion yen syndicated lending agreement last September with Mizuho Corporate Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the business daily said.

The company is expected to report a consolidated net loss of 450 billion yen for the year ending March 31, Nikkei added.

Sharp is also in talks to sell its Malaysian factory to Taiwanese electronics manufacturing service Wistron Corp (3231.TW), the Nikkei said. (Reporting By Maria Ajit Thomas in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)