MUMBAI, Nov. 27, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) — Fitch Ratings said Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) ‘ acquisition of US-based lighting fixtures manufacturer Genlyte Group Inc (NASDAQ:GLYT) , for around 2.7 bln usd cash, has no impact on Philips’ ratings. Fitch has long-term issuer default and senior unsecured ratings of ‘A-’ and short-term IDR of ‘F2′ on Philips. The outlook for the long-term IDR is stable.

With the acquisition of Genlyte, Philips will become the number one lighting company in North America providing energy-efficient lighting. Fitch said Genlyte has limited (12 pct of sales) exposure to the troubled US residential construction sector, where it is active in the less affected, high-end segment of the market.

Most of its sales are to the commercial and industrial sectors in the US, where Fitch predicts continued growth in 2008 — albeit not at levels seen in 2007 given the threat of a US slowdown. Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 6:10 am and is filed under Consumer Electronics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.