ams-osram completes sale of entertainment and industrial lighting business for 114 million euros

On March 2, ams-Osram announced that the company had completed the sale of its entertainment and industrial lighting business to Japanese optical technology company Ushio Electric. The transaction, with a final value of €114 million, was settled in cash and debt-free.

The business segment divested this time covers production facilities, R&D capabilities and related intellectual property rights in Berlin, Germany. At the same time, about 500 employees will be transferred to Ushio Motor.

Aldo Kamper, CEO of ams-Osram, said that the successful completion of this transaction is an important milestone in the company's development. The transaction not only advances the company's balance sheet deleveraging strategy, but also strengthens the company's core positioning of becoming a global leader in digital optics.

It is reported that in order to accelerate the optimization of debt, in April last year, ams Osram announced a plan to accelerate the optimization of debt, with the goal of reducing the ratio of net debt to adjusted profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to less than 2.

Its plan includes: continuing to implement the "reshape the foundation" strategy to promote the growth of the core semiconductor business and improve free cash flow performance; sell the 8-inch wafer fab in Malaysia and eliminate related sale and leaseback liabilities; extend the revolving credit line; evaluate and dispose of multiple assets to achieve asset realization gains of more than 500 million euros.

The sale of the ENI business is the first asset sale in ams-Osram's plan to accelerate debt optimization. It is reported that ams Osram's ENI business products cover special lamps for infrastructure and cinema applications, as well as high-end light sources for semiconductor wafer manufacturing equipment. The business achieved revenue of approximately €170 million in 2024.

It is worth noting that in February this year, ams Osram also sold its non-optical analog/mixed-signal sensor business to the well-known semiconductor company Infineon for 570 million euros.

Through the sale of the non-optical analog/mixed-signal sensor business and the ENI business, ams-Osram has received approximately 670 million euros in funds, which will be used to reduce debt. The company plans to invest approximately 130 million euros to repurchase or redeem convertible bonds and senior notes as secured assets.

ams Osram stated that in the future, the company's strategic focus will focus on high-pixel LED forward lighting, AR smart glasses micro-emitter arrays, AI data center optical interconnections, and advanced sensing technology for robots. At the same time, the traditional automotive lighting business will remain within the group as a stable source of cash flow to provide financial support for semiconductor research and development.