Ferrari's largest shareholder has acquired a 15% stake in Philips, whose stock price has plummeted by 60% in the past two years.
Exor is optimistic about the future prospects of Philips in the field of healthcare technology. Currently, Philips utilizes AI to assist in generating medical reports for patients and has developed collaborative diagnostic technology.
Aiming at the health technology track, Ferrari's major shareholder invests heavily in troubled Philips.
On Tuesday, according to the Financial Times, Exor, the holding company of Ferrari's largest shareholder, the Agnelli family, has acquired a 15% stake in Philips, with a transaction value of approximately 2.6 billion euros.
After the completion of the transaction, Exor's shareholding will increase to 20% and it will obtain a seat on the Philips board of directors. Exor explicitly stated that its investment strategy is to become a "long-term minority equity investor," and this investment is seen as strong support for Philips' transformation from consumer electronics to health technology.
Of note, the protagonist of this transaction, "Philips," is deeply embroiled in the respiratory device recall storm, with its stock price plummeting over 60% in the past two years, and its market value shrinking by 68% since the recall incident in April 2021.
It is reported that under the leadership of John Elkann, the fifth-generation head of the Agnelli family, Exor has a market value of 19.5 billion euros and is the largest shareholder of Stellantis, Ferrari, and CNH Industrial.
In recent years, Exor has expanded its investment scope from the automotive industry to healthcare, technology, and financial services. After selling Partner Re, a US reinsurance company, for 9.3 billion euros in 2021, Exor has increased its investment in the health industry and acquired partial stakes in France's Institut Mérieux and Italy's Lifenet.
It is worth mentioning that despite the potential risks of product recalls and related claims for Philips, the Agnelli family remains confident in Philips' future. In a letter to shareholders in April of this year, Elkann clearly stated that Exor is optimistic about Philips' prospects in the field of health technology and will devote more resources to it.
Elkann said:
Philips' transformation in recent years perfectly combines the two areas that interest us the most: health and technology. Currently, Philips uses artificial intelligence to help generate patients' medical reports and has developed collaborative diagnostic technology.