Reuters is reporting Dutch-based lighting company Signify (formerly Philips) has agreed to buy Cooper Lighting Solutions from Eaton for $1.4 billion in cash. If there are no regulatory issues, the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.
Signify’s Chief Financial Officer Stephane Rougeot provided a telephone interview with Reuters, explaining that Signify moved forward with the deal to create a stronger professional market position in North America, and “They have a large agent network, they have very deep customer relationships, and they have great brands over there.”
The Reuters story says Signify has had a second-place position in global professional lighting, and suffered from a lack of presence in North America where it faces tough competition from Acuity Brands and others.
Signify changed its name from Philips lighting in 2016, and this acquisition will be its largest since then.
The acquisition caps an interesting year for Eaton’s lighting company, which was spun off from Eaton on March 1. Then, just three weeks before this sale was announced, Eaton announced a re-branding for lighting, changing the name to Cooper Lighting Solutions.
Cooper Lighting Solutions reported $1.7 billion in lighting sales in 2018, up from the previous year. Signify told Reuters its goal is to reduce debt over the next few years, and during that time it will not make mergers a priority.
For more on the Signify’s merger with Cooper Lighting, you can listen to tED magazine’s podcast “DistributED with tED magazine” by searching for it on all podcast catchers, including Apple podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.
Tagged with acquisition, Cooper Lighting, Eaton, Signify