Dutch electronics group Philips NV’s decision to split itself into two companies may not have any immediate impact on the operations of the company’s local unit, Philips India.

It will be “business as usual” for Philips India, said Krishna Kumar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director.

“In the foreseeable two years, there will be no impact on the headcount… Business will remain exactly the same as it was (before the split),” he told reporters here.

Turnover

The company has around 9,500 employees in India, of which 4,500 are in manufacturing and 3,000 in research and development (R&D), while 2,000-odd handle the commercial division.

Philips India reported a turnover of around ₹6,000 crore last fiscal with the lighting and healthcare divisions each contributing around 50 per cent to the revenue.

It has four manufacturing (Mohali, Baroda, Chennai and Pune) facilities and four R&D units (Bangalore, Noida, Pune and Chennai) in the country.

The Dutch conglomerate recently announced that it will separate the lighting and healthcare divisions. The separation will take place in all 17 countries where it’s operating.

As part of the plan, the company will merge its healthcare and consumer-electronics divisions into a single company, which will remain the core of Philips’s business. The iconic lighting business will be spun off.

The split is likely to get completed by 2016 and the Indian arm would take 12-18 months to re-organise the business.

“It (the split) will need approvals of the Board, regulators and shareholders to formally reorganise the business,” Kumar added.

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