AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch investment firm Exor NV has bought a 15% stake in the Philips Group for around 2.6 billion euros, the companies said on Monday.
Philips believes the partnership deal is a sign of confidence after a massive product recall that began in 2021 knocked its stock down two-thirds.
“This investment demonstrates that Exor fully supports Philips’ leadership, strategy and value creation potential and enables Exor to appoint a member to Philips’ supervisory board,” the group said in a statement.
Philips shares took 4.88% at 08:17 GMT.
The investment was made through purchase of shares on the market and an agreement with a financial institution and will not result in any dilution of capital, added Philips.
Exor, which can now take a seat on Philips’ board, could later increase its stake to a maximum of 20%.
Exor, holding company of the Italian Agnelli family, is the main shareholder of companies such as Ferrari, Stellantis and CNH Industrial. The company said in April it had 6.5 billion euros available for investment.
Philips has recovered from a major recall of respirators, its stock having taken 35% since the start of the year, closing at 20.35 euros on Friday. In comparison, the action was worth more than 60 euros before the recall campaign.
Last month, Philips reported operating profit of 453 million euros and slightly raised its financial targets for the full year.
(Report Toby Sterling and Bart H. Meijer, Gaëlle Sheehan, edited by Kate Entringer)
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