Barco has announced a strategic partnership with Unilumin. The strategic partnership agreement comes with supply agreements and a joint development agreement that governs the collaboration between the partners. As part of this collaboration agreement Barco confirms its intent to acquire a minority stake of 5% into Unilumin through a share transfer.
Barco plans to buy shares of Unilumin from Unilumin’s majority shareholder and CEO Mingfeng Lin, for an amount of approximately €54 million price in order to obtain the minority stake. Both parties expect the share-acquisition transaction to be closed as soon as possible, pending regulatory approvals.
The partnership allows Barco to secure a supply of LED display components, that allows broader penetration in its core markets with differentiated Barco LED visualisation hardware and software solutions. At the same time, this partnership aims to enhance Unilumin’s opportunity to broaden its geographic market and access new applications for their leading technology, while also leveraging Barco’s technology and experience in LED.
Both companies will also combine their competences and work together in the development of innovative technologies and new products.
Jan De Witte, CEO of Barco, said: “Barco’s heritage includes some of the most impressive customized LED installations all around the world. However, LED technology continues to develop at a rapid pace and starts to open up interesting opportunities in mainstream markets in the Entertainment and Enterprise segments. With this partnership we are strengthening our global competitive play as we further expand the hardware component of our 'hardware + software + services' proposition towards our target markets.”
Mingfeng Lin, CEO of Unilumin, said: “Barco is our route to the high-end market offering access to a broader and more global audience. In addition, this cooperation also allows us to leverage Barco’s image processing capabilities in LED solutions. Both companies are convinced that the mutual recognition of each other’s strengths will result in a win-win opportunity and a long-term beneficial partnership for everyone involved, including the customer.”