Lighting Industry

  Simultaneous and separate crises are occurring at the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal simultaneously. These are the two most important global shipping canals. The Panama Canal is suffering from a drought in the lake that supplies its water. The drought is likely caused and made more severe by climate change. The Suez Canal [...]

  Container shipping rates for important global trade routes have spiked this week due to the combination of Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, and the recent air strikes against Houthi bases, by the US and UK. There are now shipping industry fears of a prolonged disruption to Red Sea trade routes, one of the busiest [...]

 Three companies in Finland have collaborated to demonstrate the successful commercialization of bio-based packaging materials for light fixtures that are recyclable, plastic-free, and biodegradable. The three companies involved are: Secto Design – a company specializing in sustainable wooden design lamps, moved its Petite product line’s products from traditional fossil-based packaging into new packaging made of [...]

  The Green Proving Ground (GPG) program leverages GSA’s real estate portfolio to evaluate innovative building technologies. The program aims to drive down operational costs in federal buildings and help lead market transformation through the deployment of new technologies. Program goals include sustainability and interagency collaboration. Since 2015, GSA has coordinated the GPG program with [...]

  China’s near monopoly on rare earth metals production is diminishing, but still dominant. China’s market share of rare earth production has dropped from 97% a decade ago, to 70% in 2022. Rare earth minerals are critical to many important climate action technologies including magnets for renewable energy generation such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, [...]

  The World Bank forecasted that 5.2% annual growth for China in 2023 will slow to 4.5% in 2024, and down to 4.3% in 2025. China’s growth has fluctuated dramatically in recent years, ranged from 2.2% in 2020 to 8.4% in 2021 and 3% in 2022. China’s economy is feeling the drag following severe pandemic [...]

  Here is a quick summary of 6 acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2023: SpecGrade LED was acquired by LED Lighting, LLC. Details here. PE firm acquiring Progress Lighting. Details here. Hess GmbH acquired by Ragni Group. Details here. Fonroche Lighting acquired NoWatt Lighting. Details here.Eurofase Announces Strategic Private Equity Investment. Details here. Acuity [...]

Many of the acquisitions in the lighting industry are driven by private equity firms. Over the 5.5 years between January 2018 and June 2023, private equity (PE) firms have acquired more lighting manufacturers in the US & Canada than either publicly traded companies or private companies that are not controlled by a PE firm. PE [...]

  The IRA provides $400 Billion in federal funding for clean energy carbon reduction to address climate change. The IIJA provides $550 Billion in federal funding, over the next 5 years, for infrastructure, including EV charging infrastructure, as well as numerous projects that often include lighting, such as bridges, tunnels, highways, railway improvements, and more. [...]