February 11, 2022
Bankrupt: Contrast Lighting Ceases Operations
Canadian lighting maker files bankruptcy. Creditors owed over $5 million.
Contrast Lighting, a Quebec-based manufacturer of architectural recessed and pendant luminaires has filed for bankruptcy protection with the Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.
The company, Eclairage Contraste M.L. Inc., has issued a statement that it is “protecting itself from creditors” and “is no longer in operation.”
In the bankruptcy filing, Contrast Lighting reports that it owes creditors $6.45 million (CAD) which is equivalent to $5.08 million USD. Contrast Lighting claims to have total assets valued at $1.00 CAD ($0.79 USD).
Multiple agents informed us that Contrast Lighting notified them in December of an imminent restructuring but did not announce its plans to cease operations – leaving unanswered questions about open orders, commissions owed and future warranty claims. The agents with whom we spoke are assuming that those are unrecoverable losses and are moving on.
In the December letter to agents, Contrast Lighting explained that the COVID-19 pandemic and a cyberattack created "significant pressure on the company's cash flow and Finance."
We’ve also heard reports that Contrast Lighting had been providing recessed housings for other small lighting OEMs, and that their closure is causing some other lighting brands to scramble to find on-the-fly substitutions.
Contrast Lighting’s Appointed Licensed Insolvency Administrator is Montreal-based accounting firm MNP, LLP.
NOTE: This article was updated on February 12 to include details of the Contrast Lighting letter to its business partners.
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