Jordan O'BrienQMotion Advanced Shading Systems, a rising star in the home technology channel, has been by acquired Legrand North America, parent company of NuVo, On-Q, Pass & Seymour, Vantage, Watt Stopper, Middle Atlantic and other leading brands in the home automation, lighting controls and building infrastructure categories.
Legrand will bring a “much broader and deeper global reach for QMotion,” says Cassie Metzger, senior brand development manager for QMotion.
That’s on top of the progress QMotion has already made in the custom electronics market in its few short years in the motorized shading business.
QMotion was founded in 2010 by Willis Mullet, former CEO of Wayne Dalton Corp., a leading manufacturer of garage door openers.
The company began selling motorised window treatments through the custom electronics industry shortly thereafter, and by the 2015 the company claimed 27% of the CE Pro 100 integrators as customers.
QMotion ranked #3 in the motorised shade category among CE Pro 100 companies in 2015, behind Lutron (74%) and Crestron (30%).
Legrand is a giant in home and building controls, with international reach and an established base of customers including home systems integrators, electrical contractors and commercial integrators – a welcome audience for QMotion.
“We actually are active in the commercial market,” Cassie says, “but that’s an area we are planning to expand even further.”
QMotion’s products fit nicely into the Legrand mix. Motorised shades, an important component of building-wide energy management, complements Legrand’s lighting and controls businesses, including Vantage and WattStopper.
Vantage services both residential and commercial properties, while WattStopper focuses on lighting and energy management for commercial and industrial installations.
“They [Legrand] didn’t have shading and we didn’t have lighting,” says Cassie. “It makes great sense.”
Legrand has always been a key player in the homebuilder market, with its OnQ structured wiring systems and communications products.
The company recently came out with a whole-house control system called Intuity that is tailor-made for that market and the dealers who serve it.
QMotion is more of a premium product – a perfect complement to Vantage controls, for example – but Metzger says it would explore ways to participate in Legrand’s broad-market initiatives.
Metzger says QMotion will maintain its relative independence within Legrand, much as NuVo, Vantage, OnQ have done.
The company will continue to maintain close ties to its other control partners, such as Control4 and Savant, Metzger says.