Cree wraps up $310m sale of Cree Lighting to Ideal Industries

US electronics company Cree wrapped up its previously announced $310 million sale of Cree Lighting – its lighting products business division to Ideal Industries.

The divested business includes LED lighting fixtures, lamps, intelligent lighting control solutions, and corporate lighting solutions business related to industrial, commercial and consumer applications.

The transaction was announced in March 2019 with Cree to use the proceeds from it to speed up the growth of Wolfspeed – its Power and RF business and also to grow its semiconductor operations.

Cree completed sale of its lighting products business unit to Ideal Industries. Photo courtesy of Wtshymanski/Wikipedia.org.

Gregg Lowe – CEO of Cree said: “This represents a pivotal chapter for Cree as we sharpen our focus to become a semiconductor powerhouse in silicon carbide and GaN technologies.

“Cree’s technologies are helping to power major transitions in our economy, whether it’s the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles or the telecommunications sector’s move to faster 5G networks. Our leadership in silicon carbide and GaN positions us well to help customers improve performance and realize greater efficiencies.”

In May, Cree announced an investment of up to $1 billion to expand its silicon carbide capacity to address the increasing demand for silicon carbide and GaN-on-silicon-carbide technologies.

The expansion will be done through the development of an automated 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility and a materials mega factory at the company’s US campus headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. Upon completion in 2024, the new facilities will significantly boost Cree’s silicon carbide materials capability and wafer fabrication capacity.