ams OSRAM has reportedly signed a definitive agreement to sell Fluence, its horticulture lighting systems business to Signify N.V. for a purchase price of USD 272 million on a debt-free basis. Subject to regulatory approvals, the companies expect the deal to close in the first half of 2022.

This agreement marks an important step in the implementation of ams OSRAM's strategy to emphasize and restructure its business portfolio on its core technology areas in visualization, illumination, and sensing, which still includes advanced LED horticulture lighting solutions. OSRAM will continue to be a strategic supplier of LED to the consolidated business for horticulture applications.

According to Wilhelm Nehring, the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Business Unit, both Signify and Fluence have expertise in complementary lighting for the horticulture industry. The combined business will bring future avenues for the business partners, customers, and employees of Fluence, added Nehring.

Talking about the deal, Frans Scheper, the Executive Vice President of Opto Semiconductor Business noted that ams OSRAM will continue to capitalize on its position as a leading developer of blue, red, and white LEDs for the horticulture industry.

OSRAM and Signify were fierce competitors in the general lighting business. However, since the July 2020 acquisition of OSRAM by ams, the Austrian sensor maker, ams OSRAM has been divesting different lighting businesses.

Apart from Digital Lumens, some of the company’s sell-offs include the February sale of a lighting components factory in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and the sale of its light engine and driver business in North America to Acuity Brands in June among others.

In the meantime, Signify continues to build various lighting operations, with a recent instance of the installation at a Dutch gerbera farm.

For those unversed, ams OSRAM provides an industry-leading portfolio of horticulture LEDs for professional top lighting, vertical farming, and inter lighting applications. With an industry-leading portfolio, OSRAM offers impressive efficiency values as a leading innovator in the red LED tech sector.

Source credit:

https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/21/12/b24692636/ams-osram-announces-the-sale-of-its-horticulture-lighting-systems-business-fluence-to-signify