Baird Capital, the private equity arm of Robert W. Baird & Co., bought SloanLED, a manufacturer of LED technology. 

The Ventura, California-based target serves customers in many commercial and industrial markets. JZ Partners, Golub Capital and Hexagon Inc., a private investment company, are co-investing alongside Baird Capital. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SloanLED, which also has offices in North America, Europe and Asia, specializes in various types of lighting, including LED lights for signage and refrigeration. The purchase makes good on a prediction Baird made in a 2010 report that the LED industry is highly fragmented and likely to undergo consolidation.

“The global push towards increased energy efficiency on the part of both consumers and governments provides a backdrop for further industry consolidation,” according to a statement from Baird managing director Trish Hansen, at the time. Hansen oversees the firm's electrical products and lighting investment banking effort.

Andrew Brickman, a Baird partner, will join SloanLED’s board of directors, along with fellow operating partners Scott Hoffman and Dave Schroeder.

The transaction comes as the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) sectors enter M&A mode. In April, Royal Phillips (SWX: PHI) sold its 80 percent ownership in its automotive lighting and LED components business, Lumileds, to GO Scale Capital for $3.3 billion. Before that, Rubicon Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: RBCN), a component provider to the LED and semiconductor markets, sold $28.2 million-worth of its common stock to Canaccord Genuity Inc.