Philips' Lumileds division attracts interest; Philips Lighting bids fall about EUR 500m short
Philips is engaged in talks with candidates for a takeover of its Lumileds division, after a sales bid last year failed, Dutch-language Het Financieele Dagblad reported, citing remarks by Philips CEO Frans van Houten at the presentation of the quarterly results. As Philips Lighting division edges closer towards an IPO, unnamed business bankers told the same publication that bids from the three candidates fell about EUR 500m short of the EUR 5bn sum Philips aimed for, the item added.
Philips is currently engaged in talks with new candidates for a sale of its Lumileds division, the item said. However, the company is in no rush to sell this business unit, CEO Van Houten remarked.
Last year, Chinese Go Scale wanted to pay USD 2.8bn for an 80% stake in the Lumileds division. However, due to intellectual properties concerns raised by US authorities the sale did not materialise, the item noted.
Regarding the sale of Philips Lighting, three private equity parties - Apollo (USA), Go Scale (China) and a consortium of Blackstone (USA) and Onex (Canada) - registered binding bids, the item noted. Unnamed investment bankers said their bids fell about EUR 500m short of the desired EUR 5bn bid Philips was hoping for, the same item noted.
At present, an IPO for Philips Lighting is an increasingly likely outcome, the company indicated.
Het Financieele Dagblad