Lighting Industry

In March 2019, Eaton announced that it intended to pursue a tax-free spin-off of its $1.7 billion lighting business to create an independent, publicly traded company. In September, Eaton revealed that Cooper Lighting Solutions will be the spinoff business’s name.

Sensor manufacturer AMS recently announced that the minimum acceptance threshold of 62.5% required in conjunction with the all-cash takeover offer for OSRAM Licht AG was not achieved.

LED A-line lamps account for 70.5 percent of the consumer lamp market, followed by halogen A-line lamps which account for 24.9 percent. CFLs comprised the remaining 4.6 percent of the A-line consumer market.

Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire all of the equity interests of spec-grade luminaire manufacturer The Luminaires Group, home to five niche lighting brands: a-light, Cyclone, Eureka, Luminaire LED and Luminis.

In Q119, TLED lamps accounted for 30.4 percent of linear lamp shipments. T8 lamps accounted for 50.9 percent of shipments while T5 and T12 lamps claimed 8.2 and 10.4 percent, respectively.

The Managing Board and Supervisory Board of OSRAM have waived the existing standstill agreement with AMS and signed a cooperation agreement. This clears the way for a voluntary public takeover offer by AMS AG. The offer, which is expected to be valid until the beginning of October, amounts to EUR 38.50 in cash per share, with a minimum acceptance level of 70%.

According to a recent story in Reuters, the University of California is suing five major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target Corp, Ikea AB, and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc, over infringement among foreign suppliers for patents related to filament (“vintage” style) LED lamps. The University claims the retailers should enter license agreements and requested the Federal Trade Commission look into the retailers’ failure to require foreign suppliers to honor the patents.

The OSRAM acquisition just got a whole lot more interesting. On August 11, AMS AG, an Austrian company specializing in sensors for iPhones, submitted a fully financed proposal to OSRAM Licht AG for an all-cash takeover offer for 100% of the share capital of OSRAM at a price of €38.50 per share, 10% above the July offer made by Bain Capital and The Carlyle Group. This is an offer totaling about $4.1 billion.

In the latest salvo in the U.S.-China trade war, the Trump Administration announced a 10% tariff on the remaining $300 billion in Chinese imports not already taxed, starting September 1. This will include lamps and ballasts.