GP Technologies, the newly formed technology unit of electronic components group Gold Peak Industries (Holdings), has acquired a 51 per cent stake in big-screen video-display maker Lighthouse Technologies for HK$136 million.
The acquisition will boost the Gold Peak group's stake in Lighthouse to 71 per cent. It holds the other 20 per cent through associate Clipsal Industries (Holdings). Lighthouse, which makes video displays featured mainly in major events such as sports and concerts, uses the high-brightness light emitting diode (HB LED) technology.
It claims to have about 5.5 per cent of the global market for big video screens.
'We are very bullish about the HB LED market. As brightness of the LEDs improves and component prices go down, more applications have become commercially viable,' said Gold Peak chairman Victor Lo Chung-wing.
Lighthouse chief executive Tony van de Ven said the home-grown firm had formed preferential supply agreements with two semiconductor technology firms - United States-based Cree and Germany-based Osram, as well as Britain's broadcasting-equipment maker Snell & Willcox.
He said the big-screen market had six major global players - based in the US, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Germany - with market shares ranging from 5 per cent to 15 per cent. The market is projected to grow to US$500 million this year.