Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Lighting |
Founded | 29 March 1928[1] |
Founder | Sir Jules Thorn |
Headquarters | , England |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | Professional luminaires and controls |
Revenue | €109 million (2020)[2] |
Number of employees | more than 1,000 (2015)[2] |
Parent | Zumtobel Group |
Website | www |
Thorn Lighting Ltd, a subsidiary of the Zumtobel Group, is a global supplier of both outdoor and indoor luminaires and integrated controls.
Thorn was founded when Sir Jules Thorn started The Electric Lamp Service Company Ltd, in 1928, dealing in incandescent filament lamps. In 1936, renamed Thorn Electrical Industries, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. Continuous post World War II expansion followed and the organisation seized a variety of lighting, engineering and consumer electronics businesses, merging with EMI in 1979 to create Thorn EMI, which itself demerged in the year 1996.[3]
In 1994, following a leveraged management buy-out, Thorn Lighting Ltd floated on the London Stock Exchange as TLG plc (the Thorn Lighting Group) until it was acquired by Wassall plc four years later. In 2000, Wassall plc was purchased in order to merge TLG with the luminaire business of the Zumtobel Group, an acquisition financed with the assistance of private equity firm KKR who subsequently reduced its position. Thorn is now fully owned by the Zumtobel Group.