Helvar is separating its two businesses into two independent companies. The board announced the decision on 9 January, and the new structure takes effect on 1 May 2024. Since Helvar is the partner we have worked with longest, going back to the magnetic ballasts we sold in 2009, here is what the change means in practice.
Who does what after 1 May
- Helvar keeps the name and the Lighting Intelligence business: professional lighting control systems, plus field and digital services.
- Helvar Components is a new company formed from the Lighting Components business. It describes itself as an independent European partner for luminaire manufacturers, and it continues to make luminaire components such as LED drivers.
Helvar says the split is about speed: each company can focus on its own value chain and customers instead of sharing one structure. The owners have stated their commitment to growing both.
Two kinds of customer, two companies
The split follows a line that already ran through our own business. Luminaire makers and OEM projects buy Helvar drivers, LED modules and Freedom wireless components; contractors and consultants buy Helvar control systems, sensors and panels. They are different conversations with different people, and Helvar is now organising itself the same way. On our site the two already sit apart, in lighting components and lighting controls.
For a factory, the driver maker becomes a company whose only job is luminaire components. For a consultant, Helvar's controls side can focus on systems and services: commissioning, monitoring and integration.
What stays the same for our customers
Day to day, nothing you need to act on. The products, part numbers and datasheets carry on, and we continue to supply both: drivers and components from Helvar Components, control systems from Helvar. A project that uses Helvar DALI drivers under a Helvar control system still works the same way, since both sides are built on DALI.
Where it may matter is paperwork. After 1 May, documents for drivers are likely to carry the Helvar Components name and documents for controls the Helvar name. If your submittals reference the manufacturer by name, expect two names where there used to be one.
Questions
Helvar's own announcement has the details. If you are mid-project and want to check how the change affects a submittal or an order, contact us.