August 11, 2023
5 Things to Know: Week Ending August 12
A notable electical distribution acquisition. Acuity Brands writes a huge order in Philly.
Here's a roundup of some of the week's happenings curated to help lighting people stay informed.
1. Border States Sequel
Border States, headquartered in North Dakota, has reached an agreement to acquire Sequel Electrical Supply, an electrical distribution company operating in 18 locations across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Border States is ranked 7th on the Electrical Wholesaling Top 150 electrical distributors list with 2022 sales of $2.85 billion.
According to the announcement, the acquisition, pending regulatory review, strategically adds four states in the Eastern U.S. Gulf Coast to Border States' 25-state footprint, creating no overlap. Founded in 2004, Sequel employs over 220 people and primarily serves the construction and industrial markets in the region.
The deal is set to close on August 26, expanding Border States to more than 3,250 employee-owners and over 120 branch locations.
2. Miscommunication affects Acuity Brands. Again.
Today the Illuminating Engineering Society Progress Committee confirmed that Acuity Brands earned six inclusions in the 2023 IES Progress Report. Last week, the IES Progress Committee inadvertently announced that Acuity Brands had 4 product selections in the 2023 Progress Report, but published 5 in the actual document. Our Wednesday article reported the 5-count tally based on the published 8-page IES Progress Report.
Aculux WarmDim was accidentally omitted from the Progress Report handout and presentation, but the IES Progress Committee stated today that it will be published in the November issue of LD+A as part of the full list of 61 (not 60) 2023 Progress Report selections.
In 2022, the IES Progress Committee announced that Acuity Brands had 6 Progress Report selections, but published 9 Acuity Brands products in the Progress Report.
3. Acuity Brands writes Huge Philly Order
In West Philadelphia, streetlights near the 5700 block of Haverford Avenue will be among the first to be installed as crews work to replace or repair more than 130,000 lights across the city. The two-year project will encompass recreation centers, roadways, alleyways in both residential and commercial corridors.
A Tuesday LinkedIn post by Acuity Brands' Brendan Reilly revealed that American Electric will provide approximately 90,000 of the luminaires, using the company's newly launched AutoConnect series for most of the fixtures.
NBC10’s Leah Uko stated that lights near Shepard Park will be among the first to be installed. Shepard Park is 2.1 miles from the nearest Wawa and 2.5 miles from the closest Rita's Ice.
4. Spike in Business? Signify to provide lighting to 20 volleyball courts.
The investigative reporting team from TheHindu.com has revealed that Signify has teamed up with the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL) to illuminate 20 community volleyball courts in Assam, India's rural areas.
The project aims to promote volleyball among the rural population and empower over 5,000 players. With proper lighting in place, the initiative seeks to foster growth in the sport and encourage a healthy, active lifestyle.
5. Orion reveals acquisition details
In a recent SEC filing, Orion Energy Systems, which finalized the acquisition of Massachusetts-based Voltrek on October 5, 2022, has revealed further details of the transaction, showcasing its push into the rapidly growing electric vehicle charging station solutions sector. When the acquisition was announced, it was stated that Voltrek had generated $4.8 million in revenue in 2021.
Orion's initial purchase price consisted of $5.0 million in cash and $1.0 million in shares, with additional earn-out payments to be made based on Voltrek's EBITDA growth in the coming years.
As of June 30, 2023, Orion has already recorded $3.0 million in accrued expenses for fiscal 2023, with $2.1 million set aside for future earn-out opportunities to be paid in fiscal 2026. The purchase price, including closing adjustments, was divided among cash and 620,067 common stock shares, with the excess of the purchase price recorded as goodwill.
