Cincinnati — LSI Industries Inc., a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of commercial lighting and display solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Royston Group, a leader in identity and equipment solutions for retail environments, from Industrial Opportunity Partners (IOP) for an aggregate purchase price of $325 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of LSI’s 2026 fiscal year.
Atlanta-based Royston is a vertically integrated provider of custom store fixtures, internal/external signage and refrigerated/heated case displays. Through five facilities in four U.S. states, Royston offers customers a build-to-order solution that integrates design, engineering, fabrication, assembly, distribution and turnkey installation capabilities that span the full project lifecycle.
Royston provides retail branding solutions across an array of growing, high-value vertical markets, including refueling/c-store, grocery and quick-serve restaurants, among others, where LSI has an established market presence. Royston is an established partner of choice for three of the top five U.S. c-store and grocery chains, and four of the top five U.S. refueling station chains by location count.
Royston and its nearly 900 employees will become part of LSI’s display solutions segment on a reporting basis upon the closing of the transaction.
“We believe the acquisition of Royston will be a transformational transaction for our business, customers and shareholders, positioning LSI as the leading scaled platform in branded retail solutions,” says James A. Clark, president and chief executive officer of LSI. “LSI is building an integrated, new-to-market offering that provides a one-stop, solutions-based approach to support the new build and remodel programs of leading global retail companies across North America. This transaction accelerates our growth across targeted vertical markets, expands our suite of solutions within higher margin product categories, and further entrenches LSI as the partner of choice for leading retail brands.”
Clark continues: “Royston has established long term customer relationships with many of the leading regional and national refueling, grocery, and QSR chains in the United States. Among its top 10 customers by revenue, the average relationship exceeds 20 years, which we believe reflects its position as a go-to partner for store remodels, which accounts for approximately 70% of Royston’s annual revenue.”
According to Clark, the addition of Royston will expand LSI’s capabilities within new, high-value product lines, including internal and external signage, while strengthening its existing offerings in store fixtures and display cases. “We believe this transaction offers significant commercial synergy potential, positioning us to expand per-site content through cross-selling and a solutions-based value proposition,” he says.
“This transaction brings together highly complementary capabilities and customer relationships, expanding the breadth of integrated solutions we can deliver across retail environments,” says Frank Callis, president and CEO of Royston Group. “We look forward to joining the LSI team as we contribute to the profitable growth of the combined organization.”
Headquartered in Cincinnati, LSI is a publicly held company that manufactures advanced lighting, graphics and display solutions across strategic vertical markets. The company’s American-made products, which include non-residential indoor and outdoor lighting, print graphics, digital graphics, refrigerated and custom displays, help create value for customer brands and enhance the consumer experience. LSI also provides comprehensive project management services in support of large-scale product rollouts. The company employs approximately 2,000 people at 19 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.lsicorp.com.
Royston Group is a leader in complete identity and equipment solutions. Its portfolio of companies includes Royston LLC, SignResource and Southern CaseArts — industry leaders in the outfitting of retail environments from casework, merchandisers and refrigerated cases to exterior store signage.
SOURCE: LSI Industries, Inc.