The takeover battle over troubled electronics maker¹ Sharp has intensified² after Terry Gou, founder³ and chairman of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, made a personal appeal to the Japanese government and bank officials to take its $5.1bn offer seriously.

台湾鸿海精密(Hon Hai Precision Industry)创始人、董事长郭台铭(Terry Gou)以个人名义呼吁日本政府官员和银行高管认真对待自己51亿美元的报价后，围绕苦苦挣扎中的电子产品制造商夏普(Sharp)的收购战升级。

Mr Gou’s visit to Tokyo came as Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, seeks to allay⁴ concerns about a foreign takeover of a century-old Japanese company and boost its chances of beating a rival offer by a government-backed fund.

郭台铭访问东京之际，鸿海——其更知名的名称是富士康(Foxconn)——正在寻求化解日本国内对于这家百年企业被外国同行收购的担忧，提高自己击败一家政府支持基金的报价的机会。

The deal has been closely watched by overseas investors⁵ as a test case for Japan’s openness to foreign businesses and promises to enhance shareholder⁶ returns.

海外投资者密切地关注着这一交易，把它视为检验日本对外国企业的开放度和提高股东回报率的承诺的一个案例。

The Y600bn ($5.1bn) bid submitted by the Apple supplier last week includes promises to protect jobs and to shoulder the debt held by Sharp’s banks, according to people with knowledge of the offer.

知情人士表示，这家苹果(Apple)供应商上周提出的6000亿日元（约合51亿美元）的报价中，包含保留工作岗位和承担夏普债务的承诺。

Foxconn also hopes to convince sceptics by pointing to its investment in Sharp’s flagship liquid crystal display plant in Sakai, western Japan. Since it took a stake in the plant in 2012, the facility has achieved a steady growth rate of 3 to 5 per cent for the past three years in profit, according to one person with knowledge of its operations.

富士康也提到了自己对位于日本西部堺市(Sakai)的夏普旗舰液晶面板工厂的投资，希望劝服怀疑者们。知情人士表示，自从2012年富士康入股该厂以来，过去3年里，该厂每年的盈利增长率保持在稳定的3%至5%之间。

Yasuo Nakane, analyst⁷ at Mizuho Securities, says Foxconn is pursuing Sharp for its advanced display technology and the company’s engineers. The company needs them to support its plants in China which make Apple’s iPhone products.

瑞穗证券(Mizuho Securities)分析师中根康夫(Yasuo Nakane)表示，富士康竞购夏普，是为了得到其先进的显示屏技术和工程技术人员。富士康需要这些资源来支持其设在中国大陆、为苹果生产iPhone产品的工厂。

The chances of the Taiwanese company winning the bid have been considered slim amid Japanese government worries about Sharp’s technology falling into foreign hands.

外界一直认为这家台湾公司赢得竞标的几率非常小，因为日本政府担心夏普的技术落到外国人之手。

Critics also question Foxconn’s ability to run such a large company, and have raised concerns about working conditions. A series of worker suicides drew attention to its labour practices in 2010, prompting the company to improve factory conditions.

批评者也质疑富士康是否有能力管理夏普这么大的公司，并对富士康的工作条件表示了担忧。2010年，一连串的工人自杀事件使得富士康的雇工行为成为外界关注的焦点，促使富士康改进工厂状况。

People familiar with the talks have previously⁸ suggested that Sharp and its lenders were leaning towards an offer made by the state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), which is said to be half the level of Foxconn’s bid.

知情人士此前暗示，夏普及其债权银行倾向于日本政府支持的“产业革新机构”(INCJ)提出的报价，尽管其报价据称只有富士康的一半。

But with details of the Taiwanese company’s bid in the open, analysts⁹ say it will probably raise the bar for Sharp and its lenders to justify¹⁰ its preference for the lower bid to shareholders¹¹.

但随着这家台湾公司公开报价细节，分析师们表示，这很可能加大夏普及其银行向股东证明其应该接受更低报价的难度。