Philips sells off major stake in LED, auto lighting unit

Philips has sold a major part of its stake in LED and automotive lighting to the Chinese-American investment Go Scale Capital, a consortium of investors. The sale is expected to close in the third quarter and will bring in approximately 2.7 billion euros for Philips. After the sale the company will continue under the name Lumileds, NOS reports. Philips will retain a stake of 20 percent and remains a major customer. This sale fits in to Philips' plan to transform itself into a company that focuses on health technology as its core business. The company recently teamed up with Belgium pharmaceutical company Janssen Pharmaceutica to develop a more efficient way to test blood levels of patients with brain disease. The LED divisions Lumileds and Automotive Lighting make individual LED components for, among others, the automotive industry.