Apple LCD supplier Japan Display has renegotiated its debts, including those with Apple, and will receive a $729 million bailout, which will be formalized next month.
Reuters reports Japan Display Inc announced on Thursday that a Chinese-Taiwanese consortium will formalize its decision to invest in it by June 14. The announcement came after client Apple Inc agreed to wait for money owed and a government-backed fund offered to waive debt.
While Japan Display did not publicly name Apple, but did say that a client it owed money to has agreed to cut the pace of repayment in half for two years.
People with direct knowledge of the matter previously told Reuters that Apple fronted most of the $1.5 billion cost of building a Japan Display plant four years ago, with the Japanese firm agreeing to repay Apple with a percentage of screen sales.
A Japan Display executive in April said the firm still owed its client about 100 billion yen, without naming Apple.
Japan Display has faced slowing sales of LCD panels, as the smartphone industry, Apple included, makes the move to using OLED panels in its devices. Japan Display’s plant has reportedly been running at only half capacity.
