OSAKA - Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. decided at a board meeting Wednesday to accept around 10 billion yen in investment from Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea, sources familiar with the matter said.

The deal, to be announced later Wednesday, will give Samsung -- the maker of the Galaxy series of smartphones -- a roughly 3 percent stake in Sharp, and allow Sharp to expand its supply of liquid crystal display panels, including its advanced power-saving "Igzo" LCDs.

Sharp will issue new shares through a third party allocation as early as this month, the sources said.

The capital and business alliance comes when Sharp, which needs to repay a large debt, has been facing a deadlock in negotiations on a capital tie-up with its Taiwanese partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. since Sharp's stock price plunged last year.

Sharp also provides LCD panels for smartphones to U.S. tech giant Apple Inc., Samsung's archrival.

In December, Sharp also reached an agreement to receive up to 10 billion yen in investment from U.S. telecommunications device maker Qualcomm Inc., and jointly develop next-generation energy-efficient display panels.

==Kyodo