GE Lighting acquires fast-growing Albeo

BOULDER — Albeo Technologies Inc., a Boulder-based manufacturer of commercial LED lighting systems, has been acquired by GE Lighting for an undisclosed price, the companies announced Nov. 26.

Albeo Technologies is a private company formed in 2004 by co-founders Jeff Bisberg, chief executive, and Peter Van Laanen, chief technical officer. The company has been growing rapidly in the past year, and reported revenue of nearly $10.6 million in 2011, a more than 51 percent increase from 2010 sales of $7 million and a 427 percent increase from the $2 million the company sold in 2009.

In March, Albeo Technologies raised $8 million in a combination of venture capital and debt-financing. Since its founding, it has raised $12.75 million from Green Spark Ventures, Braemer Energy Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank, according to David Schuellerman, spokesman for GE Lighting.

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Albeo Technologies employs about 50 full-time and 15 temporary employees, Schuellerman said. As of May, it employed 35 people, Bisberg said at the time.

Bisberg will continue as Albeo Technologies’ leader and CEO through the integration process, Schuellerman said, but his email did not address longer term plans. Albeo Technologies will be integrated into GE Lighting over the next few months, and immediate changes to the headcount are not expected.

“The acquisition and integration are not expected to produce new positions or create job losses at Albeo Technologies or GE,” Schuellerman said in an email.

Albeo Technologies designs and builds LED systems used in commercial, warehouse, industrial, cold storage, office, data center, food processing, parking garage, school, sporting and correctional settings, according to a release from the GE. Its product line includes systems that are high-bay, low-bay, linear, surface mount and under cabinet fixtures, the release said.

The addition of Albeo Technologies will extend and improve the quality of GE Lighting’s offerings, the release said.“Today’s news is significant for what it enables customers to do with lighting,” Bisberg said. “Joining GE vastly expands the universe of customers with access to our breakthrough LED solutions and it profoundly empowers our research and product development capability. Our team takes great pride in the fact that we’re now part of the company behind the invention of the LED.”

GE Lighting is a division of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE). It employs about 15,000 people in more than 100 countries, according to the company.