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Transco, Ventex & Principal LED Merge?

Sign Ninja

By Sign Ninja
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Sign Ninja Apprentice

Sign Ninja

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Got wind of this from a buddy? Anyone know about the sale and merger of these two companies along with Principal LED? What it might been for some products that might generate a conflict of interest that might cause some products to disappear out of the line up?

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Erik Sine Master Engineer

Erik Sine

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Came across this doing a search. Not sure what will change, but this is the first time I've heard about it.

http://sdgmag.com/news/ventex-transco-under-new-ownership

Neon sign equipment and electric sign component manufacturer Transco To Go, LLC Columbia, South Carolina, and the assets of Jupiter, Florida-based Ventex Technology, Inc., a leading manufacturer outdoor sign lighting products, have been acquired by a private Texas-based investor group. Both companies will be integrated and will continue to operate as Ventex Technology, LLC.

The investor group led by J. Bryan Vincent and his brother Blake Vincent, are partners at Principal LED, an LED component manufacturer based in San Angelo, Texas. Henry A. Brown, III will assume the position as president and will lead the combined company’s day-to-day operations.

“This acquisition offers sign manufacturers a comprehensive stream of lighting products and leading edge technology sold through a well-established sign supply distributor network throughout North America,” says Bryan Vincent.

Henry A. Brown, III will assume the position as president and will lead the combined company’s day-to-day operations.

Creston W. Brown, currently president of Transco To Go, is very excited about teaming up with the Vincent brothers. “I was born and raised in this business, so working with Blake and Bryan is like working with my extended family. Their drive, dedication and sheer innovation to this industry is second to none, and there will be a lot more innovation driven by this company,” Brown says.

According to Blake Vincent, there are still details to be worked out over the next few months. “The opportunities presented by this acquisition position us not only to maintain our current leadership in the manufacturing and delivery of quality sign lighting systems, but will significantly expand our position and scale of operation, all of which are demonstrative of our long-term commitment to serve the electrical sign industry,” says Vincent.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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imanut Master Engineer

imanut

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Wow! Who would have thought. Vented has changed a lot in the past couple years. Transcontinental was a smaller version of what they were, but this is a major change in the landscape. I wish Blake and his brother well.

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alltex Master Craftsmen

alltex

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I had a Principal rep at my shop on Thursday afternoon. Yes, Principal now owns Ventex and Transco. The Principal guys seem to be a pretty stand up company. I'm sure they'll make wise choices with those new product lines.

Now, if they drop the Ventex CL transformer line. I'll be the first one pounding down their door.

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fishing nut Master Engineer

fishing nut

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Sounds interesting, I hope they loose the CL line and bring back the older version. I hope Creston and the Brown Brothers did good on the deal.

I think this is a good merger. consolidation and covering the market on power supplies variation and also consolidate manufacturing/shipping overseas.

Now will it stay distributor friendly or direct to majors and distributor to minors?

GOOD things happen for a reason......

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Erik Sine Master Engineer

Erik Sine

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Sorry, I'v been dragging my ass to get this reply out .

I’ve been asked a lot by phone, email, as well as at the Vegas ISA Show and I’ve been meaning to post this update .

I don’t know what’s going on with Transco, now Ventex nor do I know their future plans or endeavors with current or future products of both Transco & Ventex.

There are some big changes coming to the new Ventex now owned by Principal LED, who for the most part last I was told & read was going to be run by the former Transco Company....and those changes don’t include The Sign Syndicate any longer.

But first let me say this.

It’s not everyday, and it’s not something that the average Joe can get the opportunity to do what they love everyday as work (if they can call it that), or be a part of something that they are fond of. Transco was one of my favorite products when I arrived in this glorious trade in the 90’s. Never did I see it coming that, I myself.....would ever have a chance to be apart of. I truly think myself blessed for this opportunity.

Creston Brown has been real generous with us and gave us a great opportunity, most of all it was a joy to work with him and it’s been a great relationship and it’s been a VERY fun ride and it never really felt like work.

BUT....Transco is no more and it seizes to exist. And so our partnership also seizes. The Sign Syndicate is no longer distributing/selling Transco, now Ventex Products.

From what I was told, the two brothers Bryan & Blake Vincent (Principal LED) don’t like The Sign Syndicate for whatever reason. I don’t know why, I have no explanation or idea as to why, I didn’t bother to ask from the short answer I was given. I can only guess that maybe it has something to do with the fact that we threw their LEDs into our testing some years back (The Great White Hope, Project Tighty Whitey, Red Light District). Maybe it was my part of being very outspoken against Ventex when it came to John Boyds fuzzy math when it came to his Sign Association seminars. http://www.thesignsyndicate.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6618-led-retrofit-mythology-101/

Ironically, we use to have a very good relationship with Ventex before we started distributing Transco Products, and because of that new relationship John Boyd’s secretary let me know by email that because of that new relationship, Ventex would no longer be a Board Vendor on The Sign Syndicate due to a conflict of interest. John, whom I’ve had a good relationship with couldn’t even tell me himself but it came through his secretary. How distributing Transco products that was a conflict of interest I have no idea. The Ventex CL transformers used Transco’s GTO. But then John started to come out with very fuzzy ROI figures on his LEDs, something he used to pride himself in dispelling when they were primarily just a Neon power supply manufacturer. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures when it comes to marketing ans sales.....but this was over a year ago and John hasn’t been the president of Ventex for sometime.

Maybe the integrity of The Sign Syndicate and being the only source in this industry for measuring light sources with real numbers in light output and power for Neon, LEDs, & Fluorescent and debunking marketing claims is an issue for the new Ventex now Owned by Principal LED.

Like I said, I can’t say for sure because I don’t really know, just taking a stab at it with the very little information that was passed on down to me by Transco. Or maybe it’s none of that and the problem is more with someone else than what I’m being told, but for now I can only state what I was told ( I don’t get paid to investigate) and so there it is.

If anyone should ask them how come The Sign Syndicate is no longer a distributor anymore and the response is, “They are not a Ventex Distributor, and we’re only sticking with Ventex Distributors going forward”, well that’s just NOT true. The fact is, existing Transco Suppliers who are not Ventex Suppliers are resuming with Ventex.

Well.....it’s been a fun ride and we’ll be selling what we have left in stock of Transco related items, and after that..... no more Transco replenishment because now it goes by under a new name.

And so we’re moving on.....hope this answers those curious questions.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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Brian Master Engineer

Brian

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Well I hope this does not mean the end of the neon transformers.....

Installation & Maintenance Services

Brian Phillips | expresssignandneon@sbcglobal.net | P. 812-882-3278

Express Sign & Neon | 119 S. 15th Street - Vincennes - IN 47591

express%20neon%20sig.jpg

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gvidas Apprentice

gvidas

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Anybody care to prognosticate on future production of federal bushings and other relatively more obscure neon components?

It seemed like Transco was doing a great job holding up the thin end of the neon supply chain. I'd hate for this shuffling of ownership to change that for the worse.

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jdragun Apprentice

jdragun

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I agree about the obscure stuff......I use West Coast Designs for some of that stuff.........always liked transco's boot though.......I bet my $$ the Ventex will now kill the neon transformer lines.....back to France and Alison i guess.

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LiteGirl Journeyman

LiteGirl

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Tecnolux makes a real nice silicone caps and boots as well.

We went back to using Tecnolux, consistency is better.

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