Osram’s largest shareholder Siemens might be considering selling its 17% stake in the company, reported Reuters.
Citing a report from leading German newspaper Handelsblatt, a source in the industry revealed Siemens might sell its stake in Osram to an Asian manufacturer. No further details were offered about the potential Asian candidate.
Osram’s largest shareholder Siemens has been rather vocal about its dissatisfaction with the German lighting company’s decision to invest EUR 2 billion (US $2.20 billion) in LED chip R&D and an additional EUR 1 billion to build a new white LED lighting fab in Malaysia last Tuesday.
Investors have previously questioned Osram’s R&D strategy, with many preferring for the company to focus on more profitable niche lighting products.
The former parent company of Osram has a 17% stake in the lighting company, followed by Fidelity Management and Research (4.87%), Norges Bank Investment Management (3.31%), and Siemens Trust EV (2.50%).
Other shareholders, mainly investment banks including Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management Investment, Credit Suisse, Union Investment Privatfonds, The Vanguard Group, JPMorgan Asset Management, and BlackRock Fund Advisors each have less than 2% stake in the company. Combined the investment banks have a 9.74% share in the company.
(Editorial Note: Osram's investment in LED chip R&D has been updated to EUR 2 billion and additional EUR 1 billion to build a white LED chip fab in Malaysia as of Dec. 29, 2015.)
