AMSTERDAM: Dutch medical equipment and lighting group Philips is likely to sell its Lumileds division in the second half of this year at a lower price than the $3.3 billion it had initially envisaged, Chief Executive Frans van Houten said on Tuesday.

Last week Philips said a deal to sell the Lumileds lighting business to Go Scale Capital had been blocked by the United States for undisclosed security reasons.

On a call with journalists after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings, Van Houten also said that the company expects a modest start to 2016 and that its lighting sales will begin growing in the second half.

Copyright Reuters, 2016