TechPulse 360

PowerSecure International’s LED lighting business saw 700 percent revenue growth last year, despite the global downturn.

Now the Wake Forest company that also makes smart-grid products for utilities wants more. It announced Tuesday a move to double down on solid-state lighting, acquiring two-thirds interest in commercial and industrial lighting designer Innovative Electronic Solutions Lighting. It also decided to buy the remaining one-third of EfficientLights that it doesn’t own.

PowerSecure's present LED lighting division, EfficientLights, sells to grocery stores. Revenue rose 700 percent last year.

The transactions – valued together at $14.4 million – significantly expand the company’s bet on a market that CEO Sidney Hinton says will grow 50 percent in each of the next two years.

“Our first hand experience has confirmed to us that the demand for LED lighting is robust,” Hinton said on a conference call. “The opportunity for LED lighting is staggering.”

An LED, or light-emitting diode, is a durable, light-emitting semiconductor that cuts energy use in lighting by about 75 percent. Analysts expect that as their still high price falls, LEDs will power most general lighting by 2020, especially in commercial and industrial settings where companies save labor and replacement costs from longer lasting bulbs.

Hinton characterizes the opportunity as a $100 billion market.

The company’s EfficientLights division currently serves the grocery-store market with LEDs for refrigerator cases. Hinton says expansion is underway. Customers have come seeking lights for drug and convenience store chains, he says.

The company plans to buy the one-third interest in the company is doesn’t own in the second quarter for $10 million in stock.

Innovative Electronic Solutions Lighting will complement the purchase, say Hinton. The North Carolina company presently sells commercial and industrial lighting – including street and security lights. Hinton sees opportunities for amusement park lighting and fluorescent tube retrofits in offices, products under development.

PowerSecure will pay $4.4 million for two-third ownership and have the option to buy the remaining third of the business in 2011 for a minimum of $10 million.

The value of the business is expected to grow, says Hinton.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 at 12:52 pm and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.