GE Current buys Hubbell C&I lighting business, including controls

By Maury Wright, LEDs Magazine

GE Current, a Daintree company, has announced plans to acquire the commercial and industrial (C&I) business of Hubbell Inc. Pending regulatory and governmental approvals, Current will pay $350 million for Hubbell Lighting including all of Hubbell Inc.’s lighting-centric businesses except for Progress Lighting.

The companies expect the deal to close early next year, and at least initially each of the two businesses will maintain their individual brands and lighting industry relationships.

The deal will encompass a number of Hubbell Brands including Area Architectural Lighting, Beacon, Litecontrol, Kim, Columbia, Prescolite, Alera, Dual-Lite, Compass, Hubbell Outdoor Lighting, and Hubbell Controls Solutions.

All of the included brands have a primary business or C&I focus. Progress Lighting was excluded because of its residential focus that did not align with the Current business.

The Hubbell Controls Solutions business includes a variety of connectivity options and also the LED driver business that at one time went by the name Thomas Research Products. The Thomas brand disappeared from our pages in 2017 after a dimming control unit was launched.

The companies share parallel strategies including a decided focus on LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL). Each has invested significantly in advanced SSL products and also in networked controls technologies.

Both companies have some involvement in germicidal ultraviolet technology, including disinfection technologies that can be used continuously when people are present. Both companies also have a portfolio of products designed for usage in healthcare scenarios.

Still, the shared vision is strongest across the general lighting business for C&I applications.

“Today’s announcement is a win for the industry, combining two leading companies with over 150 years of innovation. We intend to use our combined resources to drive new investments that create solutions for the continuously evolving needs of our customers,” said Manish Bhandari, CEO of Current. “The values and customer-centric culture of the Hubbell C&I lighting business are well aligned with Current. We look forward to welcoming the Hubbell C&I team.”