Philips Lighting: Apollo, GO Scale Capital and a Blackstone and Onex consortium are the final takeover candidates
Apollo, GO Scale Capital and a consortium lead by Blackstone and Onex are the final candidates to take over Philips Lighting, reported Het Financieele Dagblad. The deadline for bids is today (18 April).
The report notes that Philips wants EUR 5bn for the division. However, the private equity parties doubt the division's capacity to earn a profit. Philips Lighting largely relies for on sales of traditional lightbulbs, while the lighting market is transitioning towards more energy efficiënt products.
According to the report, the potential buyer will have to further re-organise the division. Philips thinks the yearly cost of a restructuring operation will be around EUR 125m, the report said, citing an unnamed banker. The buyers, however, consider the annual cost of restructuring to be around EUR 200m, or higher.
Financieele Dagblad