Is Cash-Rich OSRAM in Acquisition Mode?
Reuters recently reported on an interview that OSRAM CFO, Ingo Bank, granted to the German financial news outlet, with Börsen-Zeitung. Some of the highlights include:
- After recently selling the lamps division, LEDVANCE, the company has cash on hand to invest in strategic acquisitions.
- The amount that might be available for acquisitions is approximately $530M USD -- which roughly matches the cash it received from the LEDVANCE deal.
- Ingo Bank was quoted as saying, "We have a lot of firepower and the ability to act. However, we will not be making the error of buying for the sake of it."
- Two OSRAM business units mentioned as potential targets to bolster are the automotive segment and the Opto semiconductor segment. The article was general and non-committal, so it's quite possible that any of the business units could be helped with acquisition activity.
Read the Reuters report here...
(Aside: If there was a Hall of Fame for CFO Names, we would nominate Ingo Bank.)