Royal Philips Electronics NV has increased its stake in Netherlands-based IT services company Origin BV to 98% after taking up an option to buy 10% of Origin’s shares from Beagle Investments BV, a financial consortium. Philips is paying $130m for the shares, which puts a modest $1.3bn price tag on Origin, a company that has struggled to make a profit on revenue that grew 24% to $1.1bn.
Origin, formed in January 1996 from the merger of BSO/Origin and Philips Communications and Processing, its in-house systems integrator, is now regarded by Philips as one of the eight building blocks of the company. Philips boasts that Origin has the potential to be a leader in the IT services market and that its performance continues to improve.
In February 1998, Philips was involved in talks with what was then Price Waterhouse about the sale of a 20% stake in Origin but the two companies could not agree a price (CI No 3,354). Philips then decided to revamp Origin by putting in new management.
