Agilent to spin off some assets

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Dramatically narrowing its corporate focus, Agilent Technologies Inc. is shedding its chip unit and spinning off other assets as it concentrates on the test-and-measurement business at its historic core.

About 1,300 jobs will be cut in the reorganization, which will take the company back to roots that extend to the earliest days of its former parent, Hewlett-Packard Co.

“It’s been true since the inception of the company, we’ve performed more like a sluggish semiconductor company than the world’s premier measurement company,” Adrian Dillon, Agilent’s chief financial officer, said Monday. “It has been a case of the semiconductor tail wagging the measurement dog.”

Agilent is selling its semiconductor business to the buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Silver Lake Partners for $2.66 billion. The division builds chips for such products as mobile phones and computer mouses.

Agilent also agreed to sell its 47 percent stake in San Jose-based lighting company Lumileds to Royal Philips Electronics for $950 million and the repayment of $50 million in debt. Lumileds had sales of $324 million and operating profit of $83 million over the last 12 months, Philips said.