Carlyle-Backed General Lighting Company signs purchase agreement

The contract documents were signed on September 20, 2012. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year and is subject to a vote of confidence by the shareholders of MWE.

Speaking on the acquisition, Eng. Abdullah Al-Hobayb, Chairman of GLC, said, "This an important step in GLC's strategy to target the world's fastest growing economies. Davex brings several attractive markets to the GLC family including Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia."

Eng. Fahad Al-Hobayb, CEO of GLC, said, "The acquisition of Davexcomes as a perfect complement to GLC's product offering, fitting with the requirements of our core Middle East and Africa markets. Also, a number of opportunities exist to extract synergies from the combination of our two organizations."

Established in 1983, Davexis a renowned name in manufacturing high quality indoor lighting fixtures and LED fixtures. It has undertaken a number of prestigious projects in South East Asia including the PetronasTwin Towers in Malaysia, Singapore's Changi Airport, and John Curtis Medical School in Australia. Davex has fully-owned sales and marketing subsidiaries in Singapore, Australia and Vietnam, with more than 300 employees throughout its locations.

GLC's investment in Davex underlines the company's commitment of growing into one of the largest lighting fixtures manufacturers in developing markets. In addition to its operations in Egypt and the UAE, GLC has recently established offices in Morocco (2011), and South Africa (2012). GLC offers its products to 9 countries in the Middle East and 13 countries in Africa.