December 29, 2021

What is Left in OSRAM’s Lighting Portfolio?

2021 12 ams osram lighting portfolio.jpg

The company continues to cut assets that don’t fit into its sensor business, but many pieces still remain

Since OSRAM spun off LEDVANCE in 2016, the European company has been recalibrating its strategic approach to markets while also combining with Austria-based ams to become a $2+ billion entity whose primary focus is sensor technologies.

Since the two companies became one in 2019, ams OSRAM has been signaling its desire to sell portions of the company’s lighting portfolio. Over the past year, ams OSRAM struck deals to sell three parts of its lighting business, but several assets still remain.

ams OSRAM Lighting Deals in 2021

North American Digital Systems (DS) was acquired by Acuity Brands in July. Acuity took over the DS business in the USA, Canada and Mexico, including the production facility in Monterrey, Mexico – where Acuity Brands already had multiple manufacturing facilities.
Digital Lumens and Encelium brands were sold to private equity company, Skyview Capital in September. ams OSRAM did not publicize the sell-off as the brands simply disappeared from the ams OSRAM website.
In what many described as the “crown jewel” of the remaining lighting portfolio, horticultural lighting maker Fluence will be acquired by Signify in 2022 for $272 million. The Austin-based company generated $141 million in revenues for the twelve-month period ending September 30.

Here’s what remains in the ams OSRAM lighting portfolio:

Opto Semiconductors
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors is the lighting platform that has the most strategic fit with the core ams sensor business. Opto offers a variety of low-power, mid-power and high-power LED components that are sold into OEM products and consumer goods.

The Fluence sale to Signify represents a large “finished goods” portion of its horticultural portfolio. Under its Opto Semiconductors platform, ams OSRAM will continue to provide LED components to the horticulture market as a strategic supplier to the combined businesses of Fluence and Signify.

Digital Systems (DS) rest-of-world
Acuity Brands’ acquisition specified that it was buying the North American DS business. An ams OSRAM spokesperson recently confirmed that the company still owns Digital Systems product platforms that service the rest of the world.

Automotive Lighting
ams OSRAM sells automotive lighting products under the SYLVANIA brand in North America. There is speculation that because the automotive sector is a large sector for ams OSRAM’s sensor business that the automotive lighting segment may stick around. Others contend that while there is channel overlap with OEM sales to automakers that the high-volume retail sale side of the business, that is a unique channel within ams OSRAM, might cause the company to eventually sell this piece too.

Intelligent Lighting & Controls
Traxon e:cue is based in both Hong Kong and Germany but goes to market globally. The brands are represented by lighting agents in the USA and Canada. Revenues are reportedly much smaller than rivals Color Kinetics and Lumenpulse.

Entertainment
The pandemic has been a challenging time for companies whose products are sold into the live events market, but ams OSRAM-owned Clay Paky is a well-respected Italian theatrical lighting brand – that is reported to be stronger in Europe than in other parts of the world.

Industry & Specialty Lamps
ams OSRAM markets projection, purification and airfield lighting applications