NVC Lighting and CAS Smart City signed an intelligent lighting partnership agreement recently in Huizhou, reported Yicai.com.

Elech-Tech International (ETI) acquired NVC Lighting in 2014, after a long power struggle the organization is now headed by former ETI Chairman Donglei Wang.

Company management transition from NVC Lighting founder Changjiang Wu to Wang was rocky marked with violent disputes that dragged on for a year before Wu was put behind bars for embezzling company funds and goods.

Fourteen months after Wu’s imprisonment, the dust finally settled with Wang taking over the reign of NVC Lighting management. Wu appointed his son Duncheng Wang as NVC Lighting’s Executive Chairman.

NVC Lighting was able to turnaround losses in 2015, but by the first half of 2016 the company’s lighting revenue dipped 0.5% year-on-year to RMB 1.76 billion (US $250 million). LED lighting revenue soared 94.8% to RMB 1.18 billion, and its profits continued a steady upward climb.

Smart lighting is the next golden mine for the lighting industry, and the latest partnership reflects NVC Lighting’s intention to venture into the sector as it searches for a new revenue growth momentum. NVC Lighting President Peng Zhang noted the company’s product strategy, distribution channels, and branding strategies are entering the strategic connected platform phase. NVC Lighting established a new smart lighting research department back in 2015, and is working with China’s Xiaomi and other Internet network brands in smart home lighting. Additionally, its strategic partnership with CAS Smart City will enable it to expand its production capacity.

NVC Lighting’s collaboration with CAS Smart City will be centered around integrating the two organizations software, data, and message systems. The partnership will initially be focused on smart LED streetlights before launching other collaboration projects by mid-2017, explained Xiaosong Hong, the General Manager of NVC Lighting.

Smart lighting has substantial room for growth, including in major cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou possess about 200,000 streetlights that can potentially be replaced, added Hong. NVC Lighting’s developments in the smart lighting market will include lighting and camera equipment services, and offered in a smart module design that makes it easy to upgrade to smart streetlights and connect lights, store data simultaneously, analyze and manage data.

NVC Lighting’s power transition drama

NVC Lighting incurred massive losses back in 2014 following a chaotic ETI’s takeover earlier in April that year. Former NVC Lighting founder Wu’s reluctance to give up his position in the company, caused ETI management to physically assault NVC Lighting senior management, and shut down factories that supported Wu. The power struggle between top executives, caused NVC Lighting to incur massive losses in 2014, due to long periods of suspended production that lasted for a period of nearly six months. In the process, Wang accused Wu of amassing enormous gambling debts, and defrauding company funds and goods that were used to repay those debts. Wu was incarcerated on December 2014, after police presented evidence that proved he had misappropriated NVC Lighting funds.