TOKYO: Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co has offered 625 billion yen ($5.3 billion) to buy Sharp Corp and has no plans to replace top management, a gesture aimed at reassuring Japanese authorities worried about an overseas takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shares in the embattled electronics maker, which is considering a separate proposal from a state-backed fund, the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), jumped more than 20 per cent after the report. Sources have told Reuters that INCJ is in the lead to rescue Sharp and plans to merge its LCD business with rival Japan Display Inc, in which the fund already has a major stake. The fund is also considering merging Sharp’s home appliances business with Toshiba Corp’s, sources have also said.