Osram's worldwide lighting businesses employed about 9,000 people at the time. In 2016, Osram spun off the general lighting business which included the North American Osram Sylvania unit into an independent company called LEDVANCE headquartered in Garching, Germany. In 2017, LEDVANCE was merged into a consortium of Chinese investment companies and the Chinese lighting manufacturer MLS under the LEDVANCE name. The North American headquarters of LEDVANCE, previously referred to as Osram Sylvania, and located in Danvers, Massachusetts, was relocated to Wilmington, Massachusetts in 2015, a town north of Boston, MA. LEDVANCE continues to use the well known Osram and Sylvania brand names in their corresponding and representative markets throughout the world.