| Lumileds Holding B.V. | |
| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | 1999 |
| Location: | Schiphol, Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands |
| Key People: | Steve Barlow succeeded Matt Roney as CEO - November 2022 Steve Barlow, President, Automotive BU Leon Pikaar, SVP & GM, LED Solutions BU Shatil Haque, Chief Operating Officer Cheree McAlpine, Chief Legal Officer Jan Paul Teuwen, Chief Financial Officer Oleg Shchekin, Chief Technology Officer Alex Klein, Chief HR Officer |
| Products: | LEDs, Lighting, Automotive Lighting |
| Industry: | Semiconductor |
| Num Employees: | >7000 (2021) |
Lumileds is a lighting company that develops, manufactures, and distributes LEDs, light bulbs, and related products for automotive lighting, general lighting, and specialty lighting. Lumileds operates as a private company, having funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management.
Lumileds was formed in November 1999 as a joint venture between Philips Lighting and Agilent Technologies. Upon Philips' acquisition in 2005, Lumileds became a business unit within Philips Lighting and became known as Philips Lumileds Lighting Company.[1] In March 2015, Lumileds parent company Philips agreed to sell an 80.1 percent stake in the business to the investment fund, Go Scale.[2] In October 2015, Financial Times reported that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regulatory body may block the $2.9B deal owing to fears of Chinese subversion of the US high-tech sector.[3] The deal was cancelled in January, 2016, due to the CFIUS concerns.[4] CFIUS concerns were based on transfer of gallium nitride semiconductor technology, which is used in LEDs as well as defense applications.[5]
In December 2016, Philips announced that it has signed an agreement to sell an 80.1% interest in Lumileds to certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management. Philips retains the remaining 19.9% interest in Lumileds. The transaction was completed in July 2017, under customary closing conditions, including the relevant regulatory approvals.[6]
IP strategist Keaton Parekh helped separate the intellectual property portfolio after the spin off from Philips.[7]
On August 29, 2022, Lumileds filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company reached an agreement to enter restructuring in a bid to deleverage and strengthen its balance sheet in effort to emerge from bankruptcy within less than 60 days. Lumileds' other international subsidiaries were not part of the bankruptcy reorganization.[8] 63 days after the company filed for bankruptcy, Lumileds completed its bankruptcy restructuring and exited bankruptcy on November 1, 2022.[9]
The company sells products for automotive, illumination and specialty applications,[10] with automotive lighting comprising 60% of its sales in 2015.[11]
In architectural lighting they released the Luxeon C in 2015, a family of high-power LED light sources capable of delivering multiple colors from a single focal length.[12]
Lumileds LEDs are used in the Bridge of Peace, an illuminated pedestrian bridge in Tbilisi, and in the Times Square Ball made by Waterford Crystal.[13]
Lumileds had a history of patent disputes with competitor Epistar over the use of AlInGaP LED technology. However, in September, 2009, Philips Lumileds signed an agreement to license AlInGaP technology to Epistar.[14]