Hibino USA acquires Ann Arbor Lighting Company TLS Productions

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TLS Productions in Ann Arbor has been acquired by Hibino USA.

TLS Productions, an audio, lighting, and rigging company, has been acquired by Hibino USA, a division of Japan’s Hibino Corp., which will give the Ann Arbor-based entity more global capabilities and increase Hibino’s U.S. presence. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in Brighton as Tobins Lake Studios in 1954, TLSP was established in 1996. Ownership changed in a management-led buyout in 2012, and the company’s headquarters moved to Ann Arbor in 2013. It also has a studio, office and warehouse space in Las Vegas. TLSP owners Brad Hayes and Bill Ross will continue in their current leadership roles.

As a result of the acquisition, TLSP becomes a sister company of Irvine, Calif.’s H&X Technologies, another wholly owned subsidiary of Hibino USA, and a provider of LED media for large, live audience events, and experiential marketing applications.

“TLS is a solid and proven leader in the field of audio, lighting, and rigging production in the United States,” says Gregg Redman, CEO of H&X Technologies. “The firm has built its presence at major trade shows, corporate events, theatrical venues, and auto shows, and in permanent locations in public spaces such as museums, universities, and casinos. TLSP has earned an excellent and well-deserved reputation in the industry. Today, our team just got a lot stronger.”

TLSP employs about 30 permanent team members in Ann Arbor and Las Vegas. It also utilizes more than 100 contract employees as needed on a show-to-show basis in major markets across the U.S.

According to Redman, the current business model of providing products and services to event production customers and marketing agencies in the U.S. has shifted toward the so-called “turnkey” approach, which provides integrated one-stop services including audio, visual, lighting, rigging, and its design and operations. TLSP and H&X have developed mutually complementing business alliances to work towards fulfilling the demand for current and prospective customers of both Hibino subsidiaries.