December 22, 2021

5 Big Questions: Lighting Industry & Private Equity

We catch up with Matt Thompson, Senior VP with Skyview Capital – the firm that recently acquired Digital Lumens and Encelium from ams OSRAM – to explore some of the inner workings of Private Equity (PE) deals and why the lighting industry continues to be an area of investment for PE firms.

Topics we explore:

How do private equity firms discover potential deals? (0:52)
Why is Lighting is an attractive space for private equity investment? (2:03)
What are some of the key factors of the evaluation & acquisition process that occur behind the scenes and cause deals to happen – or not happen? (3:20)
From a private equity standpoint, how important is it that there is industry overlap or some sort of strategic connection among a PE firm’s various portfolio companies? (5:35)
What might happen in the PE space in the short-to-mid-term future…and are there any industry-specific insights relating to lighting? (7:39)

Matt Thompson, Skyview Capital

Matt Thompson oversees business operations and strategy at various Skyview Capital portfolio companies including his roles as the SVP of Corporate Development at NewNet Communications Technologies and as Chief Strategy Officer for Mimio LLC.

Mr. Thompson brings nearly two decades of experience in private equity, finance, consulting and operations. Prior to joining Skyview, he worked with companies ranging from startups to Fortune 50 enterprises, with a specialization in the telecom, media, and high technology sectors. He was Vice President of Finance at The Gores Group where he served on the Board of J Mendel Inc and led the Audit Committee. He also served as Director in the Communications Media and Entertainment group of FTI’s Corporate Finance practice in Los Angeles. Earlier in his career, Mr Thompson worked as a Director in the Business/Corporate Development group of Sony Pictures Television International where he completed over $600 million of acquisitions and divestitures of media assets across the globe.

Mr. Thompson earned an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School and a B.A. in Biology and Economics from Pomona College. He is also a Certified Insolvency Restructuring Advisor and has published featured telecom and restructuring articles in TMA Topics and AIRA Journal. Mr. Thompson currently serves as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Stanford Business School Alumni Association.

5 Big Questions and other Lighting Interviews