Philips Semi CEO expounds on merger option

Junko Yoshida, EE Times
(01/11/2006 9:26 AM EST)

LAS VEGAS — Royal Philips Electronics, which last month announced plans to spin off its semiconductor business by mid-2006, has confirmed it wishes to pursue a merger but remained quiet about potential partners it may be pursuing.

The possibility of an outmerger rather than a simple sale or an initial public offering of shares was set forth in a webcast for financial analysts on Dec. 15. During the conference Philips Electronics executives declined to comment on STMicroelectronics and Infineon as potential partners.

The name of any possible merger partner is unlikely to be disclosed before the second half of 2006. The pursuit of that unnamed partner, or partners, is moving forward in parallel with the Dutch giant’s internal efforts to sort out its chip division’s legal entanglements.

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