What happened: LNG Studios acquires DG Group
Why it matters: The Vancouver company will be beefing up its 3D printing expertise as a result in a bid to offer services earlier in a project’s lifecycle
Two sometimes-rivals in Vancouver’s real estate marketing industry are now under the same roof.
LNG Productions Inc. (LNG Studios) has acquired DG Group in a deal announced Monday (March 9).
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but LNG Studios CEO Leon Ng told Business in Vancouver the acquisition would see his company absorb five employees from DG to give the parent company a total headcount of 45 workers.
“DG group has been a very respectable competitor of ours in the same industry for over 10 years. It seemed just like a perfect time for us to join forces now,” he said, adding the companies have previously collaborated.
“So the cultural fit wasn’t an issue because we were basically working together for specific projects in the past already.”
LNG Studios is known for developing virtual reality experiences for real estate developers looking to showcase what a home would look and feel like before any construction begins.
One project in 2016 saw the company hand out 10,000 VR headsets with Concord Pacific branding to help promote a Burnaby condo project.
DG Group, meanwhile, specializes in 3D printing for real estate applications ranging from prototypes that help with view cones to marketing at presentation centres.
“This allows us to expand our services in the conceptual stage for architects to do design studies and rapid prototyping. Our idea is to try to [offer services] earlier in the real estate lifecycle,” Ng said.
While the B.C. real estate sector isn’t as white hot as it was just a few years ago, the Bank of Canada last week cut its benchmark rate 50 basis points to 1.25%.
Ng said the rate cut would bolster his sector, as LNG Studios has already been fielding inquiries from clients for potential spring and fall marketing campaigns.
The DG Group acquisition marks the latest move on Ng’s part to position more companies in the real estate services sector under a single roof.
At the end of 2018 he brought 11 companies together to work out of the same 5,000-square-foot Yaletown office.
The companies in this alliance, dubbed the React Media Group, are all separate entities but Ng owns an interest in each of them.
The idea behind the arrangement is to streamline costs and efficiences since in-house staff are communicating with each other to provide marketing services.
