Chinese packaged LED manufacturer MLS buys stake in Kaistar Lighting

Forest Lighting has issued an announcement stating that its China-based parent company MLS has acquired an 11% stake in Kaistar Lighting. Presumably, the investment will help MLS continue to expand its presence in the packaged LED space through an intricate set of partnerships that are tied to China Electronics Company (CEC) — a holding company with businesses across the high-tech space and with relationships to a number of LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) companies.

It’s getting increasingly more difficult to track the intertwined business and technology affiliations of LEDs and SSL in China, and the investment by MLS in Kaistar further complicates the situation. Generally, CEC has been the active investor in companies, but in this case MLS has essentially become partners with some of CEC’s affiliates.