Philips re-organises to spin off chips

* THE DIRECTOR of corporate communications at Philips said that all that's happened is that the CEOs of the five product divisions are going to be promoted from group management committee level to the board of management level. He said there was no connection between this and the new legal structure of Philips Semi. He added that Philips had announced a new legal entity for Philips Semi "in order to explore all kinds of future options for the division, of which no option has been decided at the moment." We are happy to clarify that.

DUTCH FIRM Philips said it will rejig its management and create five separate divisions, quite possibly as a prelude to it spinning off its chip division as a separate unit.

The five divisions, each with its own CEO, will be Philips Medical Systems, Philips Domestic Appliances, Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips Lighting and Philips Semiconductor.

The last of these is headed by Frans van Houten (45) and this young and thrusting man is the one to watch.

Philips president Gerard Kleisterlee, said he thought it was important to "extend its circle" to drive profitable growth at the Eindhoven based outfit.

The Wall Street Journal speculates today that the chip division could be spun off as soon as the middle of next year. µ

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