Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHI) today announced that it intends to sell its Speech Processing business to Invest Unternehmensbeteiligungs Aktiengesellschaft AG (Invest AG), a private equity fund of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Upper Austria. Financial details of the proposed transaction will not be disclosed. The transaction, which is subject to the advice of the works council and customary regulatory filings, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012.
Speech Processing is part of the Lifestyle Entertainment business within the Philips Consumer Lifestyle sector. The proposed sale supports the repositioning of the sector.
Speech Processing, with headquarters in Vienna and established in 1954, is a worldwide leading company in professional dictation systems. The business employs approximately 170 people worldwide.