Some buyouts make all the sense in the world, while others are total head-scratchers. Leave it to Dutch conglomerate Philips (NYSE:PHG) to pull off a deal that seems to be a little bit of both.

Philips announced Thursday morning that it had reached an agreement to purchase MRI magnet and component specialist IntermagneticsGeneral (NASDAQ:IMGC). It's an all-cash deal at $27.50 a share -- a price almost 29% higher than Wednesday's close and about 12% higher than the 200-day moving average. And though I tend to be a bit skeptical when it comes to projected benefits that are often announced with these deals, Philips does believe this deal will start boosting operating margins in the back half of next year.

It's also worth speculating on what might become of the SuperPower subsidiary of Intermagnetics. This is the business that is developing superconducting wire (in competition primarily with American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC)) and one that Intermagnetics management had publicly talked about spinning off.

Philips management, though, was cryptic, saying it'll "actively consider the most effective way to achieve its potential." My hunch? It might first try to sell it -- maybe at least talking to a company like Siemens (NYSE:SI) -- but would probably spin it out in an IPO if that doesn't work.

Ultimately, I find this deal a little puzzling and a little disappointing. Intermagnetics gets more than half its revenue from Philips, so that part makes sense. Philips also says that it'll continue to sell to Intermagnetics customers that also happen to be its rivals. But it's a pricey deal that won't dramatically improve Philips' growth and it's a deal that the Dutch conglomerate could have done years ago at a lower price.

Perhaps that's why Philips stock often looks cheap -- it seems to be on the right path and then tosses investors a curveball. I don't believe it will prove to be a bad deal, but I just can't shake the feeling that there might have been better targets for that $1.3 billion in cash that's going to Intermagnetics shareholders.

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).