Following the decision earlier this year by Universal Douglas and Douglas Lighting Controls immediately cease operations, Signify has agreed to purchase Douglas Lighting Controls assets, patents, and trademark for $250,000.
The deal was entered into the Supreme Court of British Columbia (Canada) on September 13, and it includes a note that the asset purchase agreement was reached on August 4.
Back on March 22 of this year, Universal Douglas closed its operations in North America and sent nearly all of its employees home. In the week following the decision, employees expressed their frustration with the lack of warning about the potential closure.
In March of 2021, Atar Capital, a global private investment firm, acquired Universal Lighting Technologies, Inc. and Douglas Lighting Controls. Six months later, Atar announced the Universal Douglas rebranding. In September of 2022, Universal Douglas announced Paul Tudor as the new President and CEO.
The agreement with Signify states, “The aggregate purchase price for the Acquired Assets shall be Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars in United States Dollars (US $250,000), payable at Closing to the Seller in accordance with the wire transfer instructions set forth on Schedule 2.1 attached hereto.”. KPMG, one of the worlds largest audit, tax, and advisory services, was the trustee for Douglas Lighting Controls, is referred to as the “Seller” in the legal document, and coordinated the asset sale to Signify. KPMG was appointed as the trustee on June 13th of this year.
The agreement states, “Buyer (Signify) acknowledges that it is purchasing the Acquired Assets on an “as is, where is” basis and on the basis that Buyer has inspected and/or investigated the Acquired Assets and will accept the same at the Closing in their then current state, condition and location, as applicable.” The agreement specifically states “Accquired Assets” includes all patents and patent applications. It lists 10 patents and one trademark as a part of the purchase agreement.
It also lists 37 pages, more than 1,400 SKUs listed as “lighting controls”, as a part of the purchase.
“Neither Buyer nor any of its Affiliates is assuming any liability or obligation whatsoever for any Liabilities of Seller or DLC (as defined in the Asset Purchase Agreement) or any of their respective Affiliates (or any predecessors thereof).” is also a part of the agreement, along with the agreement that the Universal Lighting Controls and Atar Capital can not use “any names or other trademarks included in the Acquired Assets or any derivations thereof.”