Engie's press release underlined the purchase was in line with the group's ambition to become a leading worldwide player in the smart city and public lighting sector, contributing to make Better Cities TODAY, a company project with a mission "to help cities and regions transform themselves into sustainable, efficient and attractive communities".
"With this acquisition, Engie strengthens its position in the smart public lighting market with 25+ years of experience, providing services to more than 500 cities and 1,300,000 lighting points across Europe and the Americas," the group said in a press release.
"Established in 2005, Flashnet is continuously focusing on research & development, which allows it to be at the forefront of IoT developments and launch innovative solutions for municipalities," according to the statement.
Eric Stab, CEO of Engie Romania, said the acquisition of Flashnet responded to Engie’s goal "to be a reliable partner of the cities and territories by proposing them highly competitive intelligent energy management systems for better cities and utility grids".
"We are glad to strengthen our competencies in both intelligent lighting and grid infrastructures and to provide to our customers better solutions integrating IT, energy and telecommunications technologies," Stab added.
Lorand Mozes, CEO and founder of Flashnet, said joining the French group was "a stepping stone" for the company to be at the core of the IoT expansion.
"We share Engie's view on the energy transition and are very excited to contribute with our expertise to the strategy of the Group," Mozes said.
Working already with several IoT communication standards, inteliLIGHT®, Flashnet's main solution, is "one of the most flexible systems available in the market," according to Engie's press release.
"This street lighting management solution gives to the city more control over the entire street lighting grid, allowing to save energy and improve schedule and maintenance works and costs," it said.
The solution has already been deployed in various cities including Dubai (U.A.E.), Penang (Malaysia), Brasov, Craiova (Romania), Mecca, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Athens (Greece), with pilots and demonstrators virtually all around the globe.
Flashnet also developed inteliGRID®, a complete hardware and software management solution for low voltage electric distribution which was "successfully" deployed for several clients in Romania.
(Anadolu Agency, 04/07/2018)