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Philips: Story of yet another idiots
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Series three, following Lenovo one and Logitech one.

    Philips, as it known wanted badly to sale all useful and good things it still makes

    As announced by Funai Electric Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Daito, Osaka; hereinafter, “Funai”) on January 29, 2013 in “Notice of Acquisition of Lifestyle Entertainment Businesses of PHILIPS”, Funai reached an agreement with Royal Philips (headquarters: the Netherlands; NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA; hereinafter, “PHILIPS”) to acquire from Philips all shares in a company that will hold the operations of the PHILIPS’ Lifestyle Entertainment Business. The move is a setback for Philips' exit from the consumer electronics business to focus on more the profitable home appliances and healthcare areas. Sale price were expected to ber €150 million (£128.3m). The deal was expected to complete in the second half of 2013.

    yet, some funny thing happened

    However, Funai received notice from PHILIPS on October 25, 2013 that Philips will terminate the transaction.

    We are disappointed that Philips has terminated the contract from their side and we are not able to acquire the Lifestyle Entertainment business unit,” stated Tomonori Hayashi, CEO, Funai Electric. “We have had a long and prosperous relationship with Philips and look forward to continuing that with our brand licensing and distribution agreements of Philips Television and Lifestyle Entertainment products in North America.”

    At the same time Philips informed Funai that it will take legal action to recover damages caused by an alleged breach of contract by Funai and that it will submit a request for arbitration at the International Court of Arbitration (ICC). In response, Funai states that there is no such breach of the SPA and that Funai at all times has respected and continues to respect the terms and conditions of the SPA. “We respected the agreement with Philips and feel that there is no grounds for breach,” Tomonori Hayashi stated.

    I am lost here. But. It seems like we are only on the start of reforms, with 'smart" MBA inspired "optimizations" like made by Lenovo and Logitech.

    At least I hope that won't be selling their headquarters and renting them back ala Panasonic and Nokia. Or I am wrong in my hopes here?

  • 2 Replies sorted by
  • trevmartrevmar

    I visited the Philips museum in Eindhoven just last month. Music CDs were a big part of their display. Sounds like somebody in Philips started to re-evaluate the value of a diversified product portfolio. The legal stuff does sound like the buyers were nickel-and-diming the sellers based on falling sales, or some similar 'performance guarantees' that may have been written into the contract.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Philips sells domestic appliances business

    Royal Philips is to sell its domestic appliances business to Hillhouse Capital with a 15 year licensing deal in the last of its re-structuring deals.

    The domestic appliance business had sales of EUR2.2bn in 2020 in kitchen, coffee, garment care and home care devices as part of total sales of EUR19.2bn for Philips. The license agreement has annual payments that represent an estimated net present value of approximately EUR 700m, resulting in a total deal value of approximately EUR4.4bn. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021 subject to customary closing conditions. Philips and Domestic Appliances will enter into an exclusive brand license agreement to use the Philips brand and certain of Philips’ other domestic appliances brands for manufacturing, sales, and marketing globally for a period of 15 years, which is renewable subject to the terms of the brand license agreement. This will see the Domestic Appliances business presented as a discontinued operation in Philips’ financial statements from the first quarter of 2021, minimising the financial impact of losses from the Covid-19 pandemic. “I am pleased that in Hillhouse Capital we have found a new home for the Domestic Appliances business to further expand on its market leadership, strong brand and pipeline of new innovations,” said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. The deal, which started in January 2020, continues the focus for Philips as a medical technology company, after its recent acquisition of medical data management companies, although it has kept the personal health business.

    “This transaction concludes our major divestments,” said van Houten. “Going forward, our focus is on extending our leadership in health technology and continuing our transformation into a solutions company supporting professional healthcare customers achieve the Quadruple Aim and consumers with their personal health.” This includes the EUR 3.2bn Personal Health businesses as part of the integrated health continuum approach through consumer-driven product and solutions innovation in areas such as oral healthcare, personal care, and mother & child care, says van Houten. “We look forward to joining forces with Philips to expand into new markets and capture more growth opportunities globally,” said Lei Zhang, Founder and CEO of Hillhouse Capital. “We are aligned with Philips’ mission to bring high quality products to support healthy and fulfilling lifestyles for consumers across the globe.”

    The domestic appliance business has 7000 staff and operates in 100 countries. The headquarters will remain in the Netherlands, says Zhang. “I am convinced that together with Hillhouse Capital’s deep e-commerce, supply chain and digital expertise, we will be in a great position to continue bringing meaningful innovations to the consumer’s homes,” said Henk de Jong, CEO of Philips Domestic Appliances. “Based on our market leading product portfolio, broad customer and consumer base and R&D capabilities, we are keen to keep supporting families and individuals to lead healthier and happier lives. We look forward to working with Hillhouse to capture additional growth opportunities.” Hillhouse is backed by US universities including Yale, Stanford and Princeton and has strong links in China with investments in Tencent and JD.com, but has also invested in an organic baby food and snack manufacturer called Little Freddie, a Californian craft beer maker and a pet food brand. https://www.philips.com

    Philips now almost exclusively is making medical related stuff with huge profits.

    Quality of management is very similar to Olympus (I mean that it is 10 kilometres below ground level;).

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