More than 500 lawsuits worldwide for a failed sleep apnea device, a massive restructuring that would result in a 70% loss in market value and the loss of 10,000 jobs. The serious economic and image situation of the Dutch multinational Philips. The Agnelli family’s holding company, Exor, came to the rescue.
Exor has entered into an agreement with Philips, under which, with an investment of 2.6 billion euros, it has acquired a 15% stake in the company, once the pride of the Netherlands and the European leader in consumer electronics, and today one of the leading manufacturers of sanitary equipment. . The deal enables the Agnelli holding, which has already become the main shareholder of the multinational, to increase its stake to 20%, according to Nos.
Headquartered in the Netherlands, Exor’s commitment is to relaunch a key brand in the European industry whose crisis began with the sleep apnea devices scandal in June 2021. These devices were intended to ensure that apnea patients could continue to breathe smoothly at night. But some of them turned out to be faulty, causing pieces of foam from the device to go into people’s lungs. Philips recalled 5.5 million devices. However, hundreds of lawsuits, including class action lawsuits, are being filed against the multinational company from customers who complained that they were drunk. 2022 ended in the dark red with a market capitalization loss of 30 billion euros.
The arrival of Exor seems to have brought a breath of optimism: After the announcement, at the stock market opening, Philips’ quotes rose 5%, while Agnelli holding’s quotes fell 1%. Gerben Everts, director of Veb, a Dutch investor association, praised Exor’s intervention: “It provides stability to Philips. Shareholders will be happy,” Nos said. Everts expressed his appreciation for the “orderly and transparent way” in which the Agnelli family continued to invest by purchasing shares at “a normal price”. According to Exor CEO John Elkann, “Philips’ path of change in recent years has created a company that combines the two sectors in which we operate, healthcare and technology.”
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Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
