Milano, 30th November 2021 – Italian Design Brands (IDB), the Italian hub of high-quality furniture and design, has concluded its eighth deal with the entrance of Axolight, a lighting company with headquarters in Italy and in the United States that designs and produces highly technical design lamps, aiming at combining the most contemporary lighting techniques with the artisanal manufacturing capabilities typical of the best made in Italy.
Giuseppe Scaturro, Managing Director of Axolight, not only will remain at the head of the company with full responsibility and operational independence, but will also remain a key shareholder. As successfully occurred in the previous deals of the Group, this approach will allow Scaturro – who in the last three years has engaged in a significant restructuring process to achieve a correct positioning of the brand Axolight on its reference market– to continue to lead the company’s ambitious growth plans. At the same time, the manager will be able to count on the support and synergies derived from belonging to a solid and well managed Group, with ambitious objectives such as the future listing on the Stock Exchange.
The deal has a significant strategic importance for Italian Design Brands, allowing the Group to further consolidate its international presence. Axolight, with headquarters in Scorzé (Venezia), boasts a strong presence abroad, with an export quota of approximately 85% of its revenue. The main market is north America, where the company is present with Axolight USA, based in Danbury (Connecticut) and 100% owned by Axolight.
The mission of Axolight is to create products able to synthesize the three main elements of its vision: design, technology, and functionality. Today, Axolight is among the best credited Italian companies in the decorative segment, as well as in the world of international projects for corporate and hospitality areas, where the concepts of design, technical reliability, and customer centric culture together represent the main competitive advantage. Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Cisco, Pfizer, Novartis are only a few of the headquarters lit also with Axolight lighting fixtures.
Distinctive features of Axolight are the multifunctionality and multidimensionality of its creations, as well as the range and depth of the selection of suspension lamps: highly synergic elements with IDB’s current lighting proposal and with high potential for application, even more in the contract channel. Every single lamp, whether it is a standard or a bespoke production, is projected, developed, and tested by hand with the support of a network of selected and highly specialized local artisans. A strategic choice aimed at enhancing made in Italy craftsmanship and creating a virtuous ecosystem with the companies that operate in the industry. The products are then assembled in Italy or in the US branch, according to the destination market.
With the entry of Axolight, the Group counts eight portfolio companies and enriches its offer in a strategic sector such as Lighting, where IDB already operates with Davide Groppi and Flexalighting. In the first semester 2021, the companies registered a growth of 74% compared to the same period of 2020 and of 39% compared to pre-pandemic 2019. Axolight’s international profile, its acquired experience in a relevant market such as North America and the vast know-how in the world of projects, conjugated with the interchange, expertise, and experience between all the IDB companies, will allow the company and the Group to continue their growth, consolidating their experience and presence in the industry.
IDB’s role, targeting long-term expansion, will be to support the CEO Giuseppe Scaturro in the process of reinforcing the organization and the sales network of the company, in order to accelerate its development seizing the existing growth opportunities.
Andrea Sasso, Chairman e CEO di IDB, declared: “We are very happy to welcome Axolight in our Group. The story of Giuseppe Scaturro really impressed us: a man with a previous experience in finance who decides to embark on an entrepreneurial challenge in the world of lighting, that is remarkable. The enthusiasm of this entrepreneur-manager in pursuing ambitious goals conveys a great confidence for the future. We are certain that the work Scaturro has done in these years will bring further growth to the company”. Giorgio Gobbi, Managing Director of IDB added: “We think this deal is very strategic for IDB. The range of Axolight products is the perfect enrichment for our supply in the Lighting world and will allow us to be even more competitive in the contract business, in particular in corporate and hospitality projects, where Axolight’s characteristics and experience are key factors of success”.
Giuseppe Scaturro, Managing Director of Axolight declared: “The pool of opportunities that can be generated with the entry of Axolight in IDB is so ample that several joint operative activities – strategic, industrial and managerial – began even before signing the agreement that formalized our partnership. IDB’s industrial vision, wholly focused on the high-end design segment, and the managerial know-how with which the Group is able to support and facilitate the activity of each company, provide an extraordinary element for growth for Axolight”.
ITALIAN DESIGN BRANDS (IDB)
Italian Design Brands S.p.A. was founded in 2015 in order to develop and promote an Italian hub for high-quality furniture and design, promoted by Private Equity Partners – co-founded by Fabio Sattin and Giovanni Campolo – Paolo Colonna and Giovanni and Michele Gervasoni, supported by a selected group of high-level private investors. In September 2015 Giorgio Gobbi, a manager with a solid experience both in multinational companies and in the furniture and design industries, joined the Group and is now Managing Director of IDB. Andrea Sasso, manager with extensive experience as top manager and CEO of listed companies, joined IDB in May 2020 as Chairman and CEO. The company rapidly initiated a process of growth, which led important companies of the design industry to join the project. As of today, the Group consists of seven companies, each one with its own precise identity: Gervasoni (2015), which realizes furniture solutions through the Gervasoni and Very Wood brands, Meridiani (2016), company specialized in the creation of refined, contemporary and versatile collections, Cenacchi International (2017), which operates in the luxury contract sector, Davide Groppi (2018), which creates and produces lamps and lighting projects, Saba Italia (2018), a high quality design furnishing company, Modar (2019), company specialized in custom contract projects, Flexalighting (2020), which designs and produces LED lighting systems for both indoor and outdoor uses and Axolight (2021) specialized in the design and production of Made in Italy decorative lamps.
IDB, in continuous growth, in 2020 registered a turnover of 112 million Euro with an export quota of over 70%. The Group currently employs over 400 people.
AXOLIGHT
Axolight, Italian lighting company based in Italy and the United States, designs, engineers, produces and distributes high-end decorative lamps. Founded in June 1996 near Venice, from 2017 Axolight is led by a management team oriented to enhance a specific interpretation of lighting design. Creativity, technical know-how, manual skill and passion are the characteristics which distinguish Axolight, with a collection of approximately 50 models, the result of the collaboration with more than 10 internationally recognized design studios and thanks to the use of more than a dozen different materials. With presence in 90 countries and thanks to the work of a team of internal professionals that daily put their skills to use, the products signed Axolight are able to respond to the requests of customers that search for furnishing able to personalize commercial, residential and contract spaces through the introduction of harmonious lighting sources.