Barco finalizes sale of its Lighting activity to US-based ETC

31 Mar 2017 16:18 CEST

Kortrijk, Belgium, 31 March 2017 – Visualization specialist Barco announced today that it has finalized an agreement with US-based lighting company ETC to sell its Lighting activity, High End Systems, based in Austin, Texas. The transaction is part of Barco’s drive to further step up focus on performance and streamline its business portfolio while aiming for sustained profitable growth in its core activities and high value adjacencies.
Sharpened focus

For Barco, the divestment of its lighting activities is in line with its strategy to sharpen the focus on its core activities in markets where Barco already enjoys global leadership positions and to optimize its business portfolio in order to contribute to the company’s sustainable profitable growth trajectory.

Realize full business potential

High End Systems has offices in the United States and employs 60 employees, primarily in Austin, Texas. In 2016 the lighting activity booked 20 million US dollar in sales with EBITDA close to break-even.

ETC, based in Madison, Wisconsin, is a global leader in lighting and rigging products and its offering is fully complementary with High End Systems’. Joining forces with ETC will enable High End Systems to grow and unlock its full business potential leveraging its assets, including a strong brand name and solid IP portfolio. High End Systems is an excellent strategic fit with the core markets and desired technology growth areas of ETC, adding valuable scope and scale to the display capabilities of both entities.

ETC will operate High End Systems as a separate company located in its current Austin, Texas facility. The transaction with ETC will be effective as of 1st of April 2017 and ensures continuation of the product portfolio and future development for the current High End Systems customer base.

About ETC
ETC is a global company dedicated to manufacturing the most innovative lighting and rigging products and providing industry-leading service. ETC employs over 1000 people across 10 countries, in 11 corporate, and several home offices.

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops networked visualization products for the Entertainment, Enterprise and Healthcare markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and APAC. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with 3,500 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.102 billion euro in 2016.

For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.barco.com

© Copyright 2017 by Barco
For more information, please contact

Carl Vanden Bussche
Vice President Investor Relations
Barco nv

Telephone +32 56 26 23 22
carl.vandenbussche@barco.com