Even as it digests $9bn worth of 2007 North American acquisitions, Philips Electronics remains on the lookout for potential deals, a North American executive has said.

Even as it digests $9bn worth of 2007 North American acquisitions, Philips Electronics remains on the lookout for potential deals, its top North American executive said on Tuesday.

"We always have a pipeline of acquisitions that we're reviewing, potential combinations that could take place," Scott Weisenhoff, chief executive of the Dutch company's North American operations, said in an interview. "We're continuing to look at the pipeline all of the time and see what comes up that makes the most sense for us."

The world's largest lighting maker, also a top-three supplier of hospital equipment, closed out 2007 with a hefty pair of deals - the $5.1bn takeover of Respironics, a maker of medical equipment used in the home, and a $2.7bn deal for US lighting company Genlyte.

While digesting those deals is a top priority, Philips remains open to other takeovers, Weisenhoff said in an interview in Andover, Massachusetts, a town about 25 miles (40 km) north of Boston to which Philips is moving its North American headquarters.

"One of the questions we're always asking ourselves is what are you buying?" Weisenhoff said. "In some cases it can be an entrance into an emerging market with market share that a local company has built up. In some cases it can be an industrial base in an emerging country. In others it can be a large, well-established new business like Respironics in sleep apnea. We weren't in that business at all.

"What you're really looking for is growth opportunities and filling some kind of market need," he said. He did not name particular targets.

Philips has invested heavily in North American acquisitions, doing $17bn in deals since 2000, and growing sales on the continent to represent about one-third of its $42bn in annual revenue.

The company's sales in North America in the second quarter were up five per cent on a comparable basis, at a time when sales to Western Europe were down one per cent.
Weisenhoff attributed that growth, which came at a time when the US economy is slowing, to the breadth of Philips product range.

"When things are a little more challenging economically you can go down within the same range and still meet your needs," he said. "Maybe not every wish you had, but because of our breadth and knowledge of what their market requirements are, we're able to meet them."

He noted that the company's medical imaging unit, which like other makers of X-ray and CT-scan machines had been hurt by a US law changing the way imaging procedures are reimbursed, is recording rising orders.

"We seem to be over the worst of that and we are seeing nice growth in the order book there," he said.