Barcelona | For Europe’s largest pure-play digital signage integrator Trison, 2023 was a successful and extremely eventful financial year. For the first time, the Spaniards exceeded the 100 million euro sales mark and in November, Trison was sold to L-Gam. CEO Alberto Caceres explains to invidis where Trison’s secrets of success lie and what’s planned for 2024.
It’s not exactly easy to get hold of Alberto Caceres these days. The new year started as eventfully as 2023 ended: Trison’s management team is extremely ambitious in winning global tenders and currently, there are a few to be worked on. Since Caceres took over responsibility as CEO of the then very Spanish digital signage integrator in 2017, sales have tripled and the sleepy Galician town of La Coruna has become home of another global market leader.
Sales exceeded 100 million euros for the first time
Just down the road from Trison is the HQ of the global fashion group Inditex. Both companies are not collocated by coincidence – Inditex played an important role as Trison’s first global customer and the cornerstone of becoming Europe’ s digital signage leader. In 2023, Trison recorded digital signage sales of over 100 million euros for the first time, employing more than 350 people worldwide. In a difficult economic environment, Trison was able to increase sales by 25% and gain market share.
New owners
The company’s growth and profitability also convinced L-Gam, the financial investors responsible for managing the wealth of the Principality of Lichtenstein. They acquired the majority of Trison shares from the Spanish investor Portobello in November. This successfully closed the sales process, which had stalled somewhat due to the uncertainties following the pandemic and war in Ukraine. According to a local newspaper, the asking price at the beginning of the sales process was around EUR 200m. What L-Gam actually paid remains, as usual, confidential.
Alberto Caceres: “We are super happy to have L-Gam on board as the new owner. L-Gam manages funds with EUR 1.5b and enables us to grow organically and through acquisitions. Their commitment is long-term and we want to lead the company into a new dimension.” The first focus for M&A is on Germany and the USA.
The global automotive specialist
Even though Trison owes the rise to become a leading integrator to Spanish fast fashion giant Inditex, today, international automobile companies and luxury goods manufacturers dominate its customer lists. “We are the world’s leading digital signage integrator for the automotive industry.” Demand from automobile manufacturers, in particular, drove sales growth of around 25% in 2023. “We install and support automotive projects in 110 countries. And for the first time in 2023, we executed projects for a couple of Asian and Norh American manufacturers.” If everything goes according to plan, Caceres expects another 20-25% growth for 2024.
What started as a “one-trick pony” has become a global business. Alberto Caceres proudly explained to invidis how global Trison’s business is today. “We generate 60% of our sales with global projects, approximately 30% in Europe and less than 10% in Spain.”
Middle East
Trison’s global presence was demonstrated last fall when Trison CSO Ignacio Alonso accompanied the invidis Executive Tour in Saudi Arabia. We visited the car dealership of one of the most iconic luxury car manufacturers, for which Trison builds luxury automobile showrooms worldwide.
Trison is represented in Dubai with its own sales and project team that caters for clients in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and neighboring markets. In contrast to the past, Trison is increasingly winning larger local projects. Without its own presence and local cultural know-how, the Middle East remains closed to most providers.
Additional growth with vertical market specialization
Last year’s launch of Trison Sports – a digital signage specialist for sports stadiums – attracted a lot of attention in the market. Trison identified a new vertical market, hired experienced digital signage stadium specialists from Germany and Great Britain and launched a new business unit.
The flagship and largest project of the new Trison unit to date is the Bernabeau Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid’s home stadium was basically completely rebuilt during ongoing match operations. Constructions finished a few weeks ago at the end of 2023. “It’s becoming an icon for European football. From the Digital Façade to the Megastore, we’re very proud of this project.” Other stadium projects are already being implemented – Caceres doesn’t want to reveal too many details at the moment. Only so much: “We are active throughout Europe.”
The second Trison unit that was launched in 2023 is Trison Games. Based at Trison UK, more than 20 Trison experts develop apps and games for omnichannel experiences. “Our customers include stadium operators and shopping malls as well as amusement parks. It’s about gamification in public spaces to make waiting times more exciting and create emotional bonds with brands and destinations.”
Trison USP – Software agnostic
Trison is following a multi-supplier strategy, very different compared to most other larger integrators. “We remain flexible and can adapt to customer requirements by choosing the best-fitting platform from a handful of suppliers.” At the moment, Trison works with Grassfish, Navori and Deneva.
QSR projects are an exception – Trison works with the inhouse platform Signage Ninja. Originally developed by Peter Critchley and the Beaver team (today Trison UK), the Ninja Signage front-end has become the first choice for menu boards & co.
Very positive outlook for 2024
For the new year, Caceres expects Trison to grow at a similar rate. “But if we win a large global project, sales could grow even faster.” Given how busy the Trison management team is at the moment, the next global client budget win seems within reach.