Royal Philips has listed six banks and filed draft documents to the Dutch market regulator for a possible IPO for its lighting division as it proceeds the sale of the lighting business, according to a recent Bloomberg report.
The company has named Citigroup Inc., ING Groep NV, Morgan Stanley & Co LLC and Societe Generale SA as joint bookrunners for the possible listing while ABN Amro Group NV and Cooperatieve Rabobank have been named joint co-bookrunners, said sources familiar with the matter.
Documents were submitted to market regulator Autoriteit Financieele Markten (AFM) for opinion before making a formal application, they said.
The lighting division which manufactures streetlights and other luminaire products is being spun off as part of Philips restructure plan to focus on health care. The company is keeping its options open with the progress of the sale.
The sale could fetch about EUR 5 billion (US $5.7 billion), said people familiar with process. Philips has announced it hopes to complete carve out of the lighting business during the first half of 2016.
Final bids have been pushed back to April 18, after a potential bidder dropped out, those familiar with the matter reported Melrose has withdrew from talks over concerns of the lighting business outlook and lack of data, increasing the possibility of an IPO.
Philips and its advisers are preparing a potential listing and informally sounding out investors, they added.