Dutch-based lighting company Signify said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy Cooper Lighting Solutions from the United States for $1.4 billion from Eaton Corp.
Signify's Chief Financial Officer Stephane Rougeot spoke of the lack of company size in North America, where his company, the world's largest lighting manufacturer, ranks second in the global professional lighting market and competes with Acuity Brands Inc. along with other firms.
"The logic of the strategy perspective is to achieve a much stronger market position professionally in North America," Rougeot said in an interview. "By buying Cooper, we are buying a very big player in the North American market. The market positions are very good, there is a large network of agents, customer relations are very deep, they have big brands there," he added.
Cooper Lighting Solutions is a lighting company based in Peachtree City, Georgia. Since leaving Philips Lighting in 2016, Signify's biggest acquisition has been Cooper Lighting Solutions. Signify said the deal would add to earnings per share in the first year and deliver annual cost savings of $60 million over three years. Signify said it expects approvals to be received in the first quarter of closing the deal in 2020. Signify said Cooper Lighting sells professional lighting and controls under the Corelite, Halo, McGraw-Edison and Metalux brands.
