Christie Acquires Allure Global Solutions

November 16, 2015 by Dave Haynes

Christie has announced its acquisition of Allure Global Solutions, the Atlanta software and services firm that has been largely focused on signage and POS systems for the cinema and sports and entertainment industries.

The company will now be known as Allure, a Christie Company.

“Christie and Allure have shared customers, most notably in the cinema market, and in the course of working together over the past decade, respect for and appreciation of each other’s ‘customer first’ attitude and practices has grown,” says Craig Sholder, EVP Business Development and Strategic Planning for Christie, in a press release.

“Given the opportunities to provide a more comprehensive, digital out-of-home (DOOH) solution to varied markets, the next step was self-evident. We are pleased to combine the consumer engagement, analytics, and integration solutions from Allure with Christie’s own array of products and services – most notably the offerings of the Christie® Experiential Networks® (CEN),” says Sholder.

“The synergies and opportunities this union provides are broad and deep, for both our current clients and our two companies,” says Craig Chapin, CEO of Allure. “As we continue to grow our core verticals and expand our presence into others, our mutual offerings will provide exciting new engagement and technology solutions not only for cinema, but also for theme parks, cultural attractions, stadiums, restaurants, and many other clients.”

“I’m also excited to have the customer-support resources of Christie’s Global Professional Services team to draw on. While Allure’s 24/7/365 help desk is a top-notch group, having access to Christie’s Network Operations Center (NOC) has the potential for improving our proactive services to our customers by an order of magnitude,” adds Chapin.

This all makes sense and is not a big surprise. I know from private chats that Allure has been talking with companies about possible acquisition for some time now, and with Christie’s strong push out from the projection room and into the lobby of cinemas, it’s a good fit to have payment capabilities.

You’d have to think cinema operators are going to be happy to reduce the number of systems and vendors running their operations, and Christie increasingly being able to say we can drive the screens, drive and sell the posters in the lobbies, the menus at concessions AND the payment, inventory and lighting control systems would be attractive. 

No deal terms were included in the press release, at least the one sent my way.