Trending: Philips Gains After Exor Picks Up 15% Stake

0910 GMT - Royal Philips is among the most mentioned companies across news items over the past four hours, according to Factiva data. The Dutch health-technology and investment company Exor said in a joint statement Monday that they have entered a relationship agreement, with Exor picking up a 15% stake in Philips for an undisclosed sum, but worth around 2.58 billion euros ($2.82 billion). As of Friday's closing, Philips had a market cap of around EUR17.18 billion. Exor said it was committed to being a long-term minority investor, and while it doesn't plan to buy more shares in Philips in the short-term, over time the agreement allows for Exor to increase its participation to a maximum limit of 20% of Philips' outstanding share capital. Exor's own shareholders might be cautious about the deal, however, ING analysts said in a research note. Investors don't typically back minority investments in listed assets--though investment company Exor's track record with this strategy is good--and there are doubts related to the U.S. litigation's overhang on the share and the influence of Exor at Philips's board level, ING analysts says. Philips shares are up 5.1% at EUR19.44, while Exor is down 0.4% at EUR81.08. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. ([e-mail])

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2023 05:27 ET (09:27 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.