Creative Realities Merges With Reflect Systems; Blended Offer To Run Under CRI

November 15, 2021 by Dave Haynes

Creative Realities has completed a merger deal with Reflect Systems that sees the combined company operating going forward as Creative Realities, or CRI for short.

Rick Mills, CEO of Louisville-based CRI, will be CEO for the combined company. Lee Summers, the CEO of Reflect, will stick around to run the combined company’s AdTech initiatives, which is focused on endemic advertising inside retail and other similar kinds of venues. Reflect will retain its offices in Dallas.

“This really is an ideal combination,” says Mills. “CRI has a strong history of deploying large-scale and sophisticated digital signage projects, driven by our exceptional creative and project management teams. Reflect has world-class content management software platforms like ReflectView, which has become an industry standard for scalable, flexible, reliable digital signage.”

“Not only do CRI and Reflect have complementary offerings, but we have also traditionally been strong in complementary markets,” says Summers. “While CRI has excelled in Quick Service Restaurants, stadiums and C-store markets, Reflect has become an industry leader in retail, healthcare, banking, Digital-Out-of-Home and corporate communications. Together we can address virtually any digital signage need for any sector.”

Unlike other acquisition/merger strategies in digital signage, CRI intends to fully integrate the two companies. “With our track record of successful combinations, the company is well positioned for continued organic and strategic growth. By fully integrating our solutions and business operations, we can bring to the market the most competitive product and service offerings available for the digital signage market,” says Mills.

The M&A press release suggests the new blended offer will look like this:

• Purpose-built menu board software via the CRI Clarity platform
• Digital signage Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) via ReflectView and Reflect Xperience
• Digital-Out-Of-Home advertising solution with the AdLogic platform
• Engineering design and planning
• Installation services
• Creative planning and design
• IPTV streaming platforms
• Post-deployment support

The companies expect the merger to close in the first quarter of 2022. Reflect was advised in the transaction by Innovation Advisors, a technology-focused investment bank. Details of the transaction were not released, but CRI is a NASDAQ-listed company, so at some point they will be legally required to put all of that out there.