The Hindu Business Line : ‘Philips open to acquisitions in India’

Mr Gerard J. Kleisterlee, President and CEO, Royal Philip Electronics, said, “We will consider any attractive proposition, if it comes at an attractive price.” When asked if there were candidates that fit the bill, he replied “undoubtedly”.

Mr Kleisterlee added that Philips would be making significant investments across the sectors that it is operating in — lighting, lifestyle and medical systems. “We are expanding our manufacturing facility and making significant investment in energy-efficient lighting. The world wants more energy-saving solutions,” he said.

He, however, declined to disclose specific investment figures but added that the 1.2 billion people market was an important one for the company.

“Philips India’s business is in line with some of the fastest growing Asian markets with a 20 per cent growth rate,” said Mr Kleisterlee, adding that a few other Asian countries were also growing at similar rate.

Philips had, on Monday, agreed to buy lighting fixtures’ manufacturer Genlyte Group for $2.7 billion, but it is unlikely to follow it up with the acquisition of another American company Cree, which manufactures light emitting diodes (LED).

Speculations of such a possibility had Cree’s shares soaring. Philips is however not interested.

“We already acquired its competitor Lumileds two years ago, and are already the leader in LEDs,” said Mr Kleisterlee.

In India, the Dutch company manufactures incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs at its facility in Mohali and expansion plans are likely to happen there.

It is also among the bigger players in the medical diagnostics segment, with tie ups with hospital chains like Apollo, Artemis and others. Philips is not likely to start manufacturing medical systems from India anytime soon indicated a senior company spokesperson.

The falling import duties and the absence of economies of scale mean that the company may not manufacture locally in the near future.

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