Frans van Houten, CEO of Amsterdam-based Royal Philips, said the company is planning to continue acquiring new ventures to drive its focus in the healthcare sector during an interview with Bloomberg.
"We are interested to do bolt-on acquisitions," Mr. van Houten said, referring to when a private equity-backed company acquires another company. "Deals done last year were bolt-on, not transformational from a size point of view, but very important nuggets."
In 2017, Philips spent roughly €2.3 billion (an estimated $2.8 billion) on acquisitions, including health IT companies like population health management company VitalHealth, interoperability software provider Forcare and image analysis software provider TomTec Imaging Systems GmbH.
The acquisitions are part of Philips' strategy to refocus its business on healthcare equipment and services, pivoting away from the company's traditional emphasis on being a diversified manufacturer of products spanning light bulbs, TVs and CDs.
"Doing a transformation of a company is not easy," Mr. van Houten told Bloomberg.
Mr. van Houten said the company's latest earnings results, released April 23, were promising. Philips posted €3.94 billion (an estimated $4.82 billion) in sales for the first quarter of 2018, including €1.53 billion (an estimated $1.87 billion) in sales for its diagnosis and treatment business segment.