World News: Philips sells APM manufacturing activities to Lite-On
Royal Philips Electronics has agreed to sell the manufacturing operations of the Philips Automotive Playback Modules (APM) business to Lite-On IT Corporation of Taiwan for an undisclosed amount.
The remaining APM operations will be transferred to a joint venture between the two companies, which will operate under the name Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS).
APM develops, manufactures and supplies CD and DVD playback modules to suppliers of automotive entertainment systems. The manufacturing operations that will be sold to Lite-On IT are mainly located in Györ, Hungary. The activities that will be transferred to PLDS include R&D, marketing & sales and product management activities, which are primarily located in Wetzlar, Germany.
In PLDS, Lite-On will replace BenQ Corporation of Taiwan as partner in a joint venture now operating under the name Philips & BenQ Digital Storage (PBDS). On completion of this transaction, PBDS will be renamed PLDS.
PLDS will continue to develop, market and sell digital information storage products for the automotive market, with manufacturing outsourced to Lite-On IT and third parties.
This transaction is expected to close in March 2007, subject to customary regulatory approvals and conditions.
