Philips on lookout for acquisitions in APAC

Boosted by good sales coming from emerging markets like India and China, Philips today said it will look for acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region to maintain its growth momentum for its lighting business.

"The emerging markets, in Asia particularly, the adoption rate of LEDs is even faster. So, we feel that we need to catch up and be prepared with the growth through partnerships, future acquisitions, through close relationships and other infrastructure projects," Philips Lighting Asia Regional Director Nigel D' Acre told PTI.

The global LED light market is estimated at over 1 billion euros and is expected to touch 12 billion euros in 2015, he added.

The growth will predominantly be driven by LED-based lighting across emerging markets, with Asia Pacific taking the lead, D' Acre said.

Without specifying from which country or the target firms that Philips is in talks with in Asia, D' Acre said that acquisitions are a part of the company's strategic plans to maintain growth in the region.

"It (acquisition) has been a part of the strategic plan... It is difficult to talk about the companies that we look for ...But it has to be a strategic fit with us...We are active on acquisitions but I cannot comment on the companies we may be looking at," he said.

The recent acquisitions in Asia-Pacific region include Selecon in New Zealand, NSW in China/HK SAR and Dynalite in Australia.

At present, 38 per cent of Philip's lighting business comes from the emerging markets, driven by healthy growth in India and China. In 2010, lighting business contributed about 34 per cent of the company's overall revenue. Last year, the company's total sales stood at 25.4 billion euros.

"The growth, of course, is driven by India and China in Asia and in other parts of the world like Latin America and I guess Middle East is also growing very well," he added.