Privately held Dutch computer chip maker NXP to seek public listing of shares

Dutch computer chip maker NXP seeks stock listing

AMSTERDAM — Dutch computer chip maker NXP BV says it will seek an initial public offering of its shares.

In a press statement Saturday, NXP says it has registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell shares, a preliminary step toward an IPO.

NXP is the former chip-making arm of Philips Electronics. Philips sold an 80.1 percent stake in NXP to a consortium of private investors led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for 4.3 billion euros ($6.3 billion) in August 2006.

Since then the company has slashed jobs and sold operations.

NXP says it had 27,000 employees and sales of $3.8 billion in 2009. The company has not yet set a target for the size of the share issue.

NXP says it will use proceeds from the offering to cut debt.