Philips spins off additional divisions

Philips has found a buyer for its Enabling Technologies Group (ETG). The VDL Groep , also based in the Netherlands, will be taking over the division in the fourth quarter of 2006. No financial details have been divulged. In 2005, ETG posted sales of 231 million euros with its industrial mechatronics systems and precision components.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal , Philips now also wants to get out of its joint venture with the LG electronics group of South Korea for the manufacture of LCD panels. Negotiations with potential buyers, including Matsushita, have reportedly already taken place.

Though he did not wish to name a specific date, CEO Kleisterlee recently announced that he planned to sell his 33 percent share in LG.Philips, which is worth around five billion euros. Although sales of flat-screen monitors and LCD TVs continue to grow, panel production has fallen deep into the red .

At the beginning of August, Philips took its first step towards a withdrawal from the volatile semiconductor industry by selling off its semiconductor division for 6.4 billion euros to an investor group . ( Craig Morris ) / ( jk /c't)