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Philips seeks to raise 694 million euros in Lighting IPO

By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Philips (PHG.AS) said on Monday it is seeking to raise at least 694 million euros (547 million pounds) by selling a 25 percent stake in its lighting division in an initial public offering of shares.

In a statement, the company said it would sell 37.5 million shares at 18.50-22.50 per share in an IPO, implying a market capitalisation for the division of 2.78-3.38 billion euros.

Including debt, Philips Lighting, the world's largest lighting maker, would have an enterprise value of 4.32-4.92 billion euros, the company said.

Final pricing is set for May 26, with the listing commencing the following day on the Euronext stock exchange under the ticker symbol "LIGHT."

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On May 3, Philips announced it would float its lighting unit, after a two-year process of separating the business that was the core of the original Philips company founded in 1891. [uL2N1800N0].

Philips CEO Frans van Houten says the lighting business, which accounts for about a third of Philips' sales but only a quarter of profits, needs independence in order to invest and grow in selling programmable lighting systems and related services to corporate customers.

Under Van Houten's 5-year tenure Philips' shares have moved mostly sideways, underperforming the benchmark AEX index of blue chip shares by about 10 percent by the close of trade on Friday. Investors hope the separation of the two companies may lead to a re-rating of shares.

Philips' remaining business will be focussed on healthcare technology, including selling advanced medical scanners and devices, patient monitoring systems and information services to hospitals, as well as consumer health devices and toothbrushes and shavers.

Van Houten has said Philips will sell its remaining stake in the new lighting company over time.

Philips Lighting had adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) of 547 million euros in 2015, on sales of 7.47 billion euros, the company said.

"We believe we present a solid investment case," said Lighting chief executive Eric Rondolat in a statement. Rondolat will remain in the top job at Lighting after the IPO.

Rondolat must manage the company's transition from conventional lighting, a shrinking market in which it is by far the largest company by sales, to the fast growing market for LEDs, where Philips is also currently biggest but faces eroding margins.

Competitors include General Electric (GE.N) of the United States and Osram Licht (OSRn.DE) of Germany, as well as Japan's Nichia corp. (5393.T), Cree (CREE.O) and Acuity Brands (AYI.N) of the U.S., and a slew of small but growing Chinese manufacturers.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jason Neely and Adrian Croft)