June 27, 2023
Inside the Ugly Bankruptcy of Douglas Lighting Controls
63 lighting agents are unlikely to recover one loonie from the collective $1.5+ million owed to them
Douglas Lighting Controls Inc. filed for bankruptcy in its home province of British Columbia on June 13, 2023. KPMG Inc. has been appointed as the trustee of the Company's bankrupt estate. The first meeting of creditors took place today via Microsoft Teams. The inside.lighting I-Team attempted to attend, but was not granted admittance by the meeting organizers.
As our readers recall, Douglas Lighting Controls, part of Universal Douglas, was abruptly shut down by private equity firm Atar Capital in March 2023. The shutdown left many lighting projects and lighting people in the lurch as the company immediately stopped shipping and supporting products while also ceasing payment of monies due to lighting agents and other creditors.
See the complete list of lighting agent creditors »
The bankruptcy filing shows $12.3 million CAD ($9.3 million USD) in total liabilities and just $829,073 CAD ($629,040 USD) in assets. This means that most creditors will likely receive nothing.
The list of creditors shows that 63 lighting agents are collectively owed more than $1.5 million CAD. A total of twelve agents are each owed more than $50,000 CAD. The list shows many Canadian agents are among those with a high credit balance ranging from $70,000 - $225,000: Prolux Lighting, For-Tram Inc., STL Lighting Group and AM Agencies Inc. New York lighting agent, SDA Lighting & Controls, is reportedly owed $146,511 CAD. Two Los Angeles agents are cited, PLP SoCal and Performance Lighting.
The largest creditor is FGI WorldWide a Toronto-based financial services company that offers asset based lending. Of all the Douglas Lighting Controls stakeholders, this financial company may be the biggest victim of the Atar Capital shutdown. Bankruptcy filings show that they are owed $8.9 million CAD. As the sole secured creditor, FGI is likely the only creditor to be paid from the company’s $829,073 assets. Unsecured creditors, like lighting agents, vendors and service providers are lower priorities.
Moving forward, creditors are required to file a proof of claim and, if necessary, a proxy with the Trustee before the meeting to be eligible to vote. Proofs of claim should be sent to KPMG in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In order to share in any distribution of the proceeds realized from the estate, creditors must prove their claims against the Company's bankrupt estate.
Lighting agents owed money by Douglas Lighting Controls (CAD $)
Click on column heading to sort ascending/descending
| Company Name ▲▼ | Location ▲▼ | Total Claim ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| AM Agencies Inc. | Calgary AB, Canada | $72,331 |
| Ambient Lighting | Tukwila WA | $9,151 |
| Apex Lighting Solufions LLC | Wethersfield CT | $40,056 |
| Ardd + Winter, Inc | Greer SC | $726 |
| Blueridge Lighting & Controls, LLC | Tukwila WA | $42 |
| CJS Lighting lnc | Roseville CA | $1,561 |
| Commonwealth Lighting Inc. | Vinton VA | $566 |
| DECO Lights Inc. | Las Vegas NV | $3,241 |
| EGI Associates, Inc. | Charlotte NC | $3,128 |
| Electra Sales Ltd | Regina SK, Canada | $12,727 |
| ELP Marketing Ltd | Halifax NS, Canada | $26,310 |
| ERT Lighting & Sales | San Antonio TX | $28,893 |
| For-Trаm Inc. | Quebec QC, Canada | $114,990 |
| Genesis lighting | Sunrise FL | $1,641 |
| George Lacey Salas, Inc. | Golden CO | $18,823 |
| GIidner Maddox, llC | Little Rock AR | $2,285 |
| Grace Lighting | Iowa City IA | $1,546 |
| Gross Sales Ltd | Cambridge ON, Canada | $55,150 |
| lntegra Agencies | Winnipeg MB, Canada | $48,624 |
| Inter-Lites Sales Ltd. | North Vancouver BC, Canada | $45,176 |
| John Patsey Sales Inc. DBA JPS Inc. | Lexington KY | $1,329 |
| Lighting Associates Inc. | Houston TX | $10,953 |
| Lighting Design & Sales Inc. | Memphis TN | $313 |
| Lighting Dynamics, Inc. | Tamarac FL | $1,696 |
| Lighting Environments | Baltimore MD | $63,039 |
| Lighting Partners of Central Florida | Orlando FL | $3,688 |
| Lighting Partnership | Birmingham AL | $36 |
| Lighting Partnership Gulf Coast | Pensacola FL | $604 |
| Lighting Solutions of Alabama | Birmingham AL | $533 |
| Lightspec | Rochester NY | $1,748 |
| Lightspec Ohio LLC | Westerville OH | $3,829 |
| Luminosity Lighting Associates | Langhorne PA | $143 |
| Meglio and Associates Inc | Chesterfield MO | $2,308 |
| Michigan Lighting Systems | Grand Rapids MI | $58,919 |
| Mlazgar Associates Inc. | Eden Prairie MN | $60,762 |
| Moxie Lighting Upstate | Somers NY | $12,136 |
| MVP Lighting | Gloucester ON, Canada | $4,162 |
| Norm Rutenberg Sales Ltd. | Mississauga ON, Canada | $1,060 |
| New Orleans Lighting Agency, Inc. | New Orleans LA | $4,663 |
| NexGen Lighting Solutions | Carrollton TX | $54,110 |
| Omnilumen Technical Products | Richmond ON, Canada | $66,658 |
| Performance Lighting | Irvine CA | $1,889 |
| PLP SoCal | Los Angeles CA | $28,866 |
| Prime West Electrical Group | Bozeman MT | $427 |
| Prolux Lighting | Edmonton AB, Canada | $225,919 |
| Quality Lighting Solutions | Wilmington NC | $3,047 |
| RC Lurie Co Inc | Phoenix AZ | $1,696 |
| SK Associates | Canton MA | $490 |
| Schroeder Sales | Albuquerque NM | $5,938 |
| Sea-Tac Lighting and Controls, LLC | Tukwila WA | $34,021 |
| SDA Lighting & Controls | Long Island City NY | $146,511 |
| Sixteen5Hundred | Emeryville CA | $4,316 |
| Smith Lighting Sales, Inc | Oklahoma City OK | $723 |
| Solid State Lighting Hawaii | Kapolei HI | $12,837 |
| Southern Lighting Source | Atlanta GA | $13,707 |
| Specified Lighting Systems | Carmel IN | $11,765 |
| Stevens Sales Company | Salt Lake City UT | $64,843 |
| STL Lighting Group | North York ON, Canada | $91,974 |
| Tampa Bay Lighting | Tampa FL | $18,647 |
| Tennessee Lighting Safes | Nashville TN | $8,515 |
| The Lighting Element | San Diego CA | $3,582 |
| Vigilant Technical Sales | St. Johns NL, Canada | $3,380 |
| West Coast Lighting | Bonita Springs FL | $6,354 |
