Taiwan's Hon Hai eyes stake in LG.Philips: papers

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Hon Hai (2317.TW), Taiwan's top electronics parts maker, is likely to buy part of the stake Philips (PHG.AS) wants to sell in South Korea's LG.Philips LCD (034220.KS), local newspapers reported on Saturday.

One of the newspapers, the Economic Daily News, said the move could help Innolux Display (3481.TW), a screen maker that assembles LCD monitors under the Hon Hai group, secure more panels it needs.

Hon Hai officials were not available for comment.

Dutch company Philips Electronics owns about a one-third stake in LG.Philips LCD, the world's No.2 LCD maker, worth about $5.4 billion at current market prices, according to Reuters data.

Philips has said it plans to sell at least part of its stake in LG.Philips once its ownership lock-up expires in July.

Japan's Matsushita (6752.T) and Toshiba (6502.T) have also been mentioned as possible candidates to buy Philips' shares.

Earlier this week, the head of LG.Philips LCD said Philips is unlikely to sell its stake in the market, although such a transaction could not be ruled out.

Hon Hai Precision shares closed up 1.72 percent at T$295.00 ($9) and Innolux shares shot up 6.33 percent to T$168.00 on Friday, outpacing the main TAIEX's 1.25 percent rise.

(US$1=T$32.8)