Chinese LED manufacturer Ledman announced it is planning to acquire a new LED luminaire company as of July 8, 2015.

Cree, a market leader in silicon-carbide (SiC) power and RF products announced the acquisition of APEI, a global leader in power modules and power electronics applications. Combining two highly complementary innovators, the acquisition enables Cree’s Power and RF business to extend its leadership position and help to accelerate the market for high-performance, best-in-class SiC power modules.

Chinese LED manufacturer Leyard has halted trade on China’s bourse as the company prepares to acquire Mingji Electronic Technology (Beijing) (Mingji) and LEDAVENUE.

The Chinese LED industry is very familiar with subsidies, the country’s government has offered financial support to local companies since 2009. Subsidies issued by the central government over the last six years has spurred the explosive growth witnessed in the country’s LED industry. LED enterprises all want a share in government subsidies. Listed companies in particular often covet subsidies to give their financial performance a facelift. LEDinside editor Flora Wu has ranked manufacturers that have received the most subsidies in 2015 in the following order below:

Avnet Abacus, one of Europe’s leading interconnect, passive, electro-mechanical and power distributors and a business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA, a business region of Avnet, has signed a pan-European distribution agreement with Taiwan-based MechaTronix, an important player in the global market for LED cooling solutions.

Following China’s stock market nosedive in recent weeks, more domestic listed companies have chosen to suspend trade. More than 760 listed companies combined have suspended trade on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses as of July 7, which is roughly equivalent to 27% of the total companies listed on both bourses. More than 100 companies applied for trade suspension on July 6 alone.

NVC Lighting recently was notified by Chongqing First Intermediate People's Court that a Chinese bank has filed a plaintiff against the company for outstanding loans left by former CEO Wu Changjiang.

Chinese LED manufacturer ETI announced Monday, eight company executives will be increasing shareholdings in their company to boost investors’ confidence.

Australia’s largest online retailer of server racks, network cabling, and fiber optics, 4Cabling, has successfully acquired 5 year-old e-commerce lighting retailer OzLighting.

LG Display will be investing 900 billion won (US$802.75 million) to build a new production line for small and medium OLED displays, reported Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo.

Nova Scotia Power (NSP), is seeking regulatory approval of CA$ 36 million (US $28.43 million) to convert its streetlights to LED, reported The Chronicle Herald.

Following Chinese governments declining subsidies in 2015, industry insiders projected a slowdown in global LED production capacity growth rates, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report. The industry, though, still faces oversupply situation as the total volume of MOCVDs will reach 2,000 this year, said Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee.

German lighting manufacturer Osram has started a round of talks with potential buyers of its lamp business, the lineup of candidates includes several large Chinese lighting companies, according to a Reuters report.

In a company statement, Chinese LED manufacturer ETI announced two of its subsidiaries received in total RMB 70 million (US $11.28 million) subsidies from local governments.

Chinese driver manufacturer Moso recently reported a pessimistic revenue outlook, reported Securities Daily.

Go Scale Capital’s ultimate motive for acquiring Lumileds is to list the LED chip company on the Chinese bourse, a Commercial Times report cited Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee saying at a recent company shareholder meeting.

LED market underperformed in 2Q15, due to waning backlight market during the quarter and cutthroat pricing competition in the lighting market, a CNA report cited Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee saying.

The LED industry market competition has intensified leading to price plunges, and even some LED lighting manufacturers releasing low priced products that have been given the “cabbage price” nickname, reported Chinese LED website Grand Lighting (Dazhaoming). Prices of international LED manufacturers mid to high range LED products remain high, creating a huge price difference.

Austrian lighting company Zumtobel restructures have helped the company turn around the EUR 4.8 million (US $ 5.32 million) losses it incurred in the last fiscal year, reported Austrian media Die Presse.

Samsung Electronics has recently signed a LED lighting component and module partnership service testing agreement with China Certification & Inspection Group’s (CCIC) Korean branch, reported Qianjia.com.

Semicon Light, a Korean company funded by Chinese LED manufacturer HC Semitek has been listed on the Korean bourse KOSDAQ on June 25, 2015.

Eaton Cooper announced recently it has dropped the Cooper name for its lighting business, details of the transition can be seen in the statement below from Mark Eubank, Preident of Eaton’s Lighting Division.

Market competition in the North American bulb market has pressured Cree to restructure its LED business, said Roger Chu, Director, Research Division, LEDinside.

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, today announced that the board of directors has approved the following: A restructuring of the LED Products business A $500 million stock buyback authorization for fiscal year 2016 The fiscal year 2016 annual operating plan that targets: Revenue to increase to $1.8 billion +/- Non-GAAP operating margin increasing to approximately 8% Free cash flow of approximately $75 million

Valeo announced that it has purchased a 10.5% stake in Aledia, by subscribing to a portion of Aledia’s capital increase. Aledia is a technology start-up dedicated to the development of cutting-edge LED technology for general and automotive lighting.

Panasonic intends to halt fluorescent lights in Indonesia by the end of June 2015, and will be laying off about 700 employees at the plant, reported Nikkei Asian Review.

AIXTRON, a worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced today that Epileds, a leading supplier of LED chip products, has qualified the Company’s AIX R6 tool for LED epitaxy mass production.

Lighting Science Group, a leading manufacturer of LED lighting solutions, announced today the appointments of three experienced sales leaders who will add broad business and industry expertise to its global sales team. Daniel Yasi joins the company as Senior Director of Commercial and Infrastructure Channels. Oscar Ibarra also joins LSG as Director of International Infrastructure Sales. Additionally, David Rubin joins the team as a Director of Commercial Markets. Dan, Oscar and David will play key roles in supporting and growing the Lighting Science product portfolio, with specific concentrations on expanding the commercial and infrastructure channels both domestically and internationally.

Merck, a leading company for innovative, top-quality high-tech products in healthcare, life science and performance materials, laid the cornerstone for a new OLED materials production plant in Darmstadt today. Production of high-purity OLED materials for use in state-of-the-art displays and lighting systems is scheduled to start in the approximately 2,000 square meter building in July 2016. With the investment, which amounts to around EUR 30 million (US$ 33.78 million), Merck is strengthening its position in the OLED business. Merck aims to be a leading supplier of OLED materials by 2018. The company wishes to make use of its experience in the liquid crystals business, where it is the global leader.

Transphorm, an early stage semiconductor company focused on redefining power conversion, today announced a US $70 million investment round led by global investment firm KKR. KKR’s investment follows initial rounds of funding led by funds affiliated with Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Foundation Capital, Google Ventures, Soros Quantum Strategic Partners, INCJ, Fujitsu, Transphorm will use this funding to support its growth, product innovation and expansion.