Acuity Brands Acquires Adura, Developer of RF Controls

Feb. 1, 2013
Acuity Brands Inc., Conyers, Ga., has acquired the assets of Adura Technologies, Inc., San Francisco, a developer of wireless controls and energy management

Acuity Brands Inc., Conyers, Ga., has acquired the assets of Adura Technologies, Inc., San Francisco, a developer of wireless controls and energy management solutions. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Founded in 2005, San Francisco-based Adura is a developer of radio frequency (RF) mesh networking technology that allows individual light fixtures to communicate in a wireless mesh network with switches, sensors and system management software. The ZigBee wireless standard-based technology enables energy-saving control solutions while eliminating the cost of using wires to network all of the devices in the system. Wireless controls technology improves the economics and feasibility of installing lighting controls in a wide variety of new construction and renovation projects.

Vernon Nagel, Acuity's chairman, president and CEO, said in a press release announcing the acquisition, “The addition of these Adura Technologies solutions continues the expansion of the breadth and depth of our wireless lighting controls portfolio, which includes Wifi technology, the ROAM streetlight monitoring system and the FIDO emergency monitoring system, and it further enhances our strategy of integrated and intelligent lighting and controls solutions.

“Adura's wireless technology coupled with our broad luminaire portfolio, Sensor Switch occupancy sensors and Lighting Control and Design (LC&D) system management software will allow for the creation of intelligent lighting systems that are simple to use while generating greater energy savings for our customers. We see wireless technology extending to almost all applications, including parking garages, industrial locations, retail settings, educational institutions, healthcare facilities and commercial office space.”

According to the press release announcing the acquisition, Adura systems are currently installed in 7 million square feet of commercial space, including 4 million square feet of covered parking facilities, contributing to a documented lighting energy consumption reduction in lighting system renovations as high as 80%.

Acuity Brands announced that its fiscal 2013 first-quarter net sales were $481.1 million, an increase of $6.8 million, or 1.4%, compared with the year-ago period.

Nagel also said in the press release, “Our first-quarter results reflect what we believe was a lull in demand in the nonresidential construction market as well as temporary inefficiencies and costs associated with the closure of our Cochran, Ga., production facility. As indicated in our fourth quarter SEC filings. We cautioned that end-customer demand could be inconsistent and tepid, particularly during the first half of the year due to the weak pace of economic recovery in the U.S. and abroad.

“While we currently see favorable trends in our daily order rate, we still expect demand to be volatile in our second quarter, as businesses and consumers adjust their spending plans to take into account the uncertainties associated with U.S. fiscal policy and global economic concerns. We believe this will be followed by more stable demand in the second half of our fiscal 2013.”