PALO ALTO, CA - As part of a larger effort to divest its semiconductor-related businesses and thereby “enhance shareholder value,” Agilent Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to sell its 47% stake in Lumileds to Royal Philips Electronics (Amsterdam) for $950 million plus repayment of $50 million of debt from Lumileds. The deal will give Philips a controlling stake of 96.5% in Lumileds; Lumileds employees will own the remaining 3.5%.
Founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Agilent and Philips, Lumileds makes LED chips and packaged LEDs, including the high-power Luxeon light sources. Philips is reportedly most interested in the high-power Luxeon product line for lighting applications. Lumileds had sales of $324 million and operating profit of $83 million over the last 12 months.
In addition, as part of its repositioning as a “pure play” measurement company, Agilent has also signed an agreement to divest its Semiconductor Products segment to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Silver Lake Partners for $2.66 billion, and plans to spin off its SOC and Memory Test businesses as soon as practical in 2006. Agilent’s semiconductor division includes optical transceivers, fiberoptic components, and low-brightness LED manufacturing facilities.
Agilent also announced that it expects to cut 1300 jobs worldwide.