Five Chinese LED manufacturers have been competing head-to-head in the bid for Osram’s lighting business, after the German company announced it would be spinning-off its less profitable general lighting business in April 2015. The five listed Chinese companies in the race for Osram’s lighting business include MLS (also known as Forest Lighting), ETI, Tsinghua Tongfang, Felio Acoustics and Foshan Lighting. All the potential Chinese buyers have the needed financing platforms, but for the German lighting company price is just one of the decisive factors, another main concern is the synergetic effect from the resulting partnership. In the article below, LEDinside evaluates the chances of the five companies’ succeeding in the acquisition of Osram’s general lighting business.

Introduction to the five manufacturers background:

MLS (Forest Lighting)

MLS was founded in 1997, and listed on the Shenzhen bourse in early 2015. Initially, the company was mostly specializing in LED package component manufacturing for lamp applications. At the time, the company was eyeing the decorative landscape LED lighting market, and aimed to raise its cost/performance ratio to boost its market shares, so it would eventually become a leading LED package manufacturer in China’s landscape LED lighting market. Following rapid lighting market developments in 2011, the company which had built a strong foundation in landscape lighting started to enter the lighting market. As part of its strategy to enter the lighting market, MLS continued to expand its SMD LED package production line, which proved to be a successful strategy. The company currently ranks as the largest LED package manufacturer in China. In 2014, the company’s LED package revenue reached RMB 3.2 billion in China with Nationstar trailing in at second with merely RMB 1.3 billion. Additionally, MLS expanded its product supply chain into LED lighting market to promote its own lighting brand, and has deployed its distribution channels in China and international markets. LED packaging has become MLS main business revenue source, and it has aggressively developed its LED lighting business.