In late November, the board of directors at Siemens (SI) approved a plan calling for a shareholder vote on a potential spinoff of its lighting unit, Osram, at the upcoming Annual Meeting in January. Well…January is here and shareholders overwhelmingly approved the measure at yesterday’s meeting, with ~98% of the votes cast agreeing to the move. Shareholders of Siemens will receive 1 share of Osram for every 10 shares of Siemens owned and the new company will be listed on the exchanges in Munich and Frankfurt. Siemens is expected to retain some ownership of the company and for additional information on the transaction, check out both the Spinoff & Transfer Agreement here and our earlier coverage here.
Siemens has been struggling for the past few years and performance at many of its units have been lagging. Many believe this transaction is just the beginning for the company, as CEO Peter Loescher tries to rouse the company from its doldrums. According to Mr. Loescher, the company will look to unload underperforming parts of the company which don’t fall within the ‘core business’. It looks like the company will prefer to unload these units via sale rather than spin and a few, such as the water treatment, mail automation and airport luggage systems businesses, have apparently already stoked some interest.
Disclosure: Author holds no position in any stock mentioned.
Related articles
- Siemens Board Approves Plan To Propose Osram Spinoff At January AGM (stockspinoffs.com)
- Osram Limps Forward Towards Spin From Siemens (stockspinoffs.com)
