Philips to sell MedQuist stake

AMSTERDAM: Philips Electronics said on Friday it will sell its 70% stake in medical transcription and document services provider MedQuist and take a fourth-quarter charge of e320 million. ($461.6 million).

Philips said it would coordinate with MedQuist to auction its stake with all interested potential purchasers although it could not give any assurance on the structure of any transaction or whether a deal would take place.

It said it needed to book the e320-million loss under discontinued operations to take account of the decline in the book value of the asset due to the 35% fall in the dollar since it bought MedQuist in 2000.

It said the recognition of the MedQuist loss would not affect Philips's equity. Philips said in July it was reviewing its options for its MedQuist stake after deciding it was a non-core holding and said it would take a e35 million second-quarter impairment charge on its stake.