INTERVIEW: WIM BUYENS, BARCO Projecting the future
A few days before Christmas, Barco announced that it had acquired a 61% stake in rival projector manufacturer projectiondesign, based in Fredrikstad, Norway. James McGrath spoke to the Belgian manufacturer’s senior vice president, entertainment to find out more about the background to the deal and the plans for the expanded company
What was the strategic thinking behind the acquisition of a majority stake in projectiondesign? It’s important for Barco to continue growing and to build on the very strong momentum that we’ve been experiencing in the projection business. As an ambitious company, we wanted to bring a strong brand into the premium professional segments of the projector market. We wanted to do this by complementing our product range on two fronts: for projectors typically used in single-chip applications and also in lower lumen-rate projectors. That led us to look around the market and see what different players had to offer and who they were – and we saw projectiondesign as the best fit for that strategic objective.
Why did the acquisition happened when it did? You can always find a match of complementary product portfolios or look to make an acquisition, but, of course, both parties have to be willing to dance. From our initial talks with
projectiondesign, we could see that there was a change needed in that organisation and it was an interesting time for them to make this happen. For us, we had experienced a strong period of growth and were searching for new and additional growth drivers – so that’s why it was important that it happened at the end of last year.
What can projectiondesign bring to Barco, and what can Barco bring to projectiondesign? The brands complement each other in many different ways. One of the biggest is the product portfolio. In the single-chip market, for instance, projectiondesign plays in niche markets and in some corporate AV, while Barco plays in the rental and staging and digital cinema markets. There’s also a clear overlap in the channels, which is positive.
14 February 2013
We also see a
complementary aspect to the brands’ geographical reach: Barco is very strong in Asia, Europe and the US, while projectiondesign is very European driven, with some presence in the US and very little in Asia. This will create opportunities for both brands in regions where there wasn’t perhaps any before. We’ll also be leveraging some manufacturing outlets of Barco’s across the world, and adding projectiondesign’s design centre. These are all complementary, which makes the acquisition stronger. Another very good fit
between the two companies is the similarities in culture – they look at certain things in similar ways. I think that this will make the acquisition work and will make the transition much more smooth for them than we have seen with other companies.
Will the projectiondesign brand remain separate from the Barco brand? We have not taken a decision
on that one yet because projectiondesign already has a strong brand. One of the reasons we bought the company – we took a 61% stake – is because we think they have something good and strong. That’s why we’re engaging with it, and it’s also enabling growth. So you will see both brands at ISE.
Do you plan to relocate any functions away from projectiondesign’s base in Fredrikstad? It is very important for us that Fredrikstad will be the single-chip design centre for us. We already have 3-chip design centres in Belgium, and also a design centre in China. We want to keep that capability and competence. It is important to us that
we keep the people and that knowledge because it is, in the end, a people business. If you say that, then you have to keep it in Fredrikstad because if you move it away from there you will lose a lot of value and that was not our intention when buying
projectiondesign. Therefore, we intend to keep the operation there.
How will the total R&D budget for ‘Barco-plus- projectiondesign’ compare with what was planned by the two companies separately? We will continue planning and working on both R&D budgets, focusing on the products we have in the pipeline. Yes, we will merge the roadmaps together, but the R&D budget is an investment made for us, so it’s only going to increase, it’s not an intention to have a rationalisation where the budget will be less. Having said that, of course
we want to bring the products lines together where there is value across the different products, from the two different companies – but that’s something that will come over time.
Are there any other significant points you’d like to raise?
It’s important to point out that this is a growth strategy; we have no intention of taking apart the projectiondesign company. The goal for us is to grow and we believe that there is significant growth potential there in multiple markets, into the mid venue, I would call it – and I think that is where this acquisition plays very strongly. Barco had a very strong
year last year, and we’re continuing to enable growth in our different projection markets – this acquisition will fuel it even more.
What’s on the horizon? On the innovation side, Barco is investing heavily in laser illumination, while projectiondesign has been focusing on LED illumination. Both teams will continue to push the boundaries of illumination technology to meet the ever-increasing demands of the projector market.
www.barco.com www.installation-international.com
‘It is important to us that we keep the people and the knowledge in Fredrikstad’
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