Forest Lighting Parent MLS Among Group Buying Osram Lamps Business

The buyer of the business known as Ledvance is a Chinese consortium consisting of the strategic investor IDG Capital Partners, the Chinese lighting company MLS Co., Ltd. and the financial investor Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center. MLS is known in the U.S. electrical market for its subsidiary Forest Lighting, which has been making inroads in the distributor lighting market.
July 28, 2016

The Supervisory Board of Osram Licht AG (Osram) has approved the sale of the general lighting lamps business. The buyer of the business known as Ledvance is a Chinese consortium consisting of the strategic investor IDG Capital Partners, the Chinese lighting company MLS Co., Ltd. and the financial investor Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center. MLS is known in the U.S. electrical market for its subsidiary Forest Lighting, which has been making inroads in the distributor lighting market.

The purchase price amounts to more than €400 million (about $442 million), said an Osram release. Osram will additionally receive payments for license agreements of trademark rights.

Osram called the consortium and Ledvance “a very good fit due to their complementary structure both geographically as well as respective product portfolios and they have solid financial resources.”

More to come on this story. Stay tuned.

About the Author

Doug Chandler, Senior Staff Writer

Executive Editor

Doug Chandler began writing about the electrical industry in 1992, and still finds there's never a shortage of stories to be told. So he spends his days finding them and telling them. Educationally, he's a Jayhawk with an English degree. Outside of work, he can often be found banging drums or harvesting tomatoes.