Turkish consortium could snap up Philips' appliances division - Sabah

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A group of Turkish business associations is looking to buy the household appliances operations of Dutch healthcare equipment maker Philips <PHG.AS> in a plan supported by Ankara, Turkish newspaper Sabah said on Friday.

Philips said in January it was looking to separate the household appliances arm, which makes vacuum cleaners and coffee machines and had $2.6 billion in sales in 2019.

Spokesman Steve Klink said the company is still in the process of disentangling the operations, a process expected to take 12-18 months.

"We would only expect to engage ...(with potential buyers) after the summer," he said.

The Turkish group includes five leading organisations in the business world: the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), exporters' assembly TIM, the chambers and commodity exchanges union (TOBB) and business associations TUSIAD and MUSIAD, Sabah reported.

"We as Turkey are the most powerful country in production between Germany and China. Hence an economic model must be created by the Turkish business world forming consortiums and buying global brands," said DEIK board member Murat Kolbasi.

Sabah quoted him as saying Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan had expressed support for the project.

(Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam;Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Louise Heavens)