The “Astrodisco” light, now considered a vintage disco-lighting effect, was introduced by Clay Paky in 1982. [Image: Photophiliac / Wikimedia Commons; CC-SA 3.0]
ams Osram, a worldwide photonics company jointly headquartered in Munich, Germany, and Premstätten, Austria, has forged an agreement to sell its Clay Paky entertainment lighting business to Arri AG, a Munich-based supplier of camera, lighting and other systems for the film, broadcast and media industries. Terms of the transaction, which is subject to what ams Osram called “the usual closing conditions,” weren’t announced.
Final step in strategic reorientation
ams Osram was formed in July 2020, when the Austrian electronics firm ams AG closed its acquisition of the century-old German lighting provider Osram, in a transaction valued at roughly €2.7 billion (around US$3.0 billion at then-current exchange rates). For a number of years, and especially since the merger with ams, Osram has been pursuing a strategy of selling off what it views as non-core assets to focus on a number of growth sectors in “illumination, visualization and sensing.” These include the company’s “high-technology semiconductor business and its automotive and specialty lamps business.”
The firm says that the sale of Clay Paky represents the last of the planned divestitures in this strategic reorientation that were announced after the ams–Osram merger. Founded in 1976 and acquired by Osram in 2014, the Seriate, Italy–based Clay Paky has developed a range of lighting applications tuned to the high-end motion-picture and live-entertainment markets, with a strong product lineup in moving-mirror and moving-body projection systems, LED and laser-based products and other offerings supporting lighting effects. Its products have won multiple international awards in the showbiz-lighting space.
Moving to Arri
The newly added Clay Paky should find a comfortable home within Arri. Originally started in 1917, in the early days of the motion-picture industry, Arri is now a worldwide supplier of camera and lighting systems for the movie, TV and media businesses, including digital cameras, lenses, lighting accessories and more. According to the company, its engineers and their contributions have been recognized with 19 scientific and technical Academy Awards.
Matthias Erb, the chairman of Arri’s executive board, said in a press release accompanying the deal that with the purchase of Clay Paky, Arri would become “a leading lighting-solutions provider, with top brands for both the motion-picture and live-entertainment markets.” After the acquisition, Clay Paky will continue to operate with its current brand, setup and structure, according to the Arri release.