DURHAM, N.C., 11 Feb. 2008. Light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturer Cree Inc. in Durham, N.C., is acquiring LED luminaire manufacturer LED Lighting Fixtures Inc.(LLF) in Morrisville, N.C., to give Cree access to vertical integration from silicon carbide substrates and LED chips through to packaged LEDs and LED fixtures.
The deal is a cash and stock transaction worth about $77 million, plus as much as $26.4 million over the next three years.
LLF has developed LED lighting retrofit products that use the company's patented color-mixing technology, which produces high efficiency and color quality.
Cree says the acquisition will expand its market opportunity by providing direct access to the lighting market. "The combination of Cree's lighting-class LEDs and LLF's lighting-systems technologies should set the stage for Cree to obsolete the light bulb," sats Chuck Swoboda, chief executive officer of Cree.
In fiscal 2009, Cree targets this acquisition to add approximately $30 million of revenue from the combination of growing LLF product sales and synergies with Cree's other LED product lines. The transaction is to close in early March 2008.
This story appeared 11 Feb. in Laser Focus World. Click here to read the original story.
