GE Lighting—inventor of many of the major lighting technologies at work, including the first visible LED 50 years ago—has signed an agreement to acquire Boulder, Colorado-based Albeo Technologies Inc., a privately held LED fixture manufacturer established in 2004.

“The addition of Albeo Technologies’ immensely talented team and its award-winning LED fixture portfolio enhances GE Lighting’s ability to serve as a trusted advisor to enterprise customers around the world,” says Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO, GE Lighting. “This acquisition is a big boost for GE customers moving aggressively toward an all-LED building envelope in new construction and retrofits, including retail, commercial and industrial high-bay applications.”

GE’s professional solutions business today offers commercial, industrial and municipal customers a range of legacy lighting solutions and LED systems for architectural, indoor, outdoor, signage, retail and transportation applications.

Albeo Technologies’ LED systems—high-bay, low-bay, linear, surface mount and under cabinet fixtures—are at work in commercial, warehouse, industrial, cold storage, office, data center, food processing, parking garage, school, sporting and correctional settings. Its solutions have helped to illuminate a range of “all-LED” facilities, including one of the world’s 10 largest data centers. Albeo Technologies’ products have been recognized with 16 independently judged awards, including six from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Today’s news is significant for what it enables customers to do with lighting,” says Jeff Bisberg, Albeo Technologies’ co-founder and CEO. “Joining GE vastly expands the universe of customers with access to our breakthrough LED solutions and it profoundly empowers our research and product development capability. Our team takes great pride in the fact that we’re now part of the company behind the invention of the LED.”

Through the acquisition, GE accelerates its ability to offer customers a more complete and integrated LED solution.

“Some of our biggest customers told us they wanted a GE-quality solution for high bay,” notes Sylvester. “This acquisition accelerates our development of cutting-edge technologies that brings customers the energy-efficient solutions they need. That’s what customers get at the end of the day—a refined, highly modular and scalable platform that delivers the GE quality they’ve come to expect.”

Albeo Technologies’ products are available through existing distribution channels and now through GE’s global distribution network.