Philips announced it will be closing down its lighting plant in Burgaw, Pender County in North Carolina, U.S. recently, according to a report by Triangle Business Journal.
The factory closure, which will become effective as of Sept. 2016, is expected to affect all 58 employees.
This is the second factory that the company has shutdown in North Carolina, five months ago the company announced plans of closing down another lighting plant in Henderson.
"As the lighting industry continues to transform at an accelerated rate, Philips must continue to realize synergies and improve operational efficiencies in order to remain agile and competitive," The company spokesman Talley Summerlin wrote in an email. "That is why Philips has decided it will phase out manufacturing at its Burgaw, N.C. facility."
Based on a notice the company filed with the North Carolina State Commerce Department, its production at the facility will be relocated to another U.S. based Philips factory. The company was not specific about which one. Employee terminations will start in April and continue until September.
Earlier in July, Philips informed the state that it would be closing a Vance County plant and laying off 50 employees. The plant was acquired through the Optimum Lighting deal in 2011, and was manufacturing energy-efficient fluorescent lighting fixtures.
In a separate company announcement, the lighting and consumer electronic product_ giant announced it cancelled 21.36 million shares, which were acquired from Nov. 1, 2014 to Nov. 20, 2015 as part of its EUR 1.5 billion (US $1.64 billion) share repurchase program initiated in Oct. 21, 2013. The plan had been effective over a three year period. The average repurchase price of the cancelled shares was EUR 24.21 per share.
