May 19, 2025
SESCO Expands into Texas, Acquires ERT
The Florida-based agency giant enters Central Texas with San Antonio-Austin acquisition
In a move that adds weight to an already expansive footprint, Florida-based SESCO Lighting has acquired Engineered Representation Technologies (ERT), a Austin-based lighting agency serving the central Texas corridor, including San Antonio. The deal, announced today, marks SESCO’s furthest westward move yet and raises fresh questions about territorial strategy, manufacturer alignment and what might come next.
This acquisition, set to close on July 1, pushes SESCO into 11 states, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean — solidifying a reach that now stretches from Florida to the Carolinas to the Texas Hill Country. While the ERT pickup plugs SESCO directly into two important metro markets, it’s the gaps — and the implications behind them — that speak louder than the press release.
The Long Game: Small Plays, Big Patterns
SESCO’s expansion blueprint has been steady and methodical. The agency has built its empire piece by piece, often by absorbing niche agents in overlooked territories. It acquired Architectural Lighting & Design in the Florida Panhandle back in 2012. More recently, it acquired Engineered Lighting Sales in Kentucky in February 2025 — another strategic foothold near the northern edge of its southeastern base.
But patterns have a way of becoming predictions. In the Carolinas, SESCO executed a hybrid model three years ago: it bought the well-established Schneider Company in South Carolina while simultaneously building a North Carolina team from scratch. That effort coincided with Genlyte Solutions — Signify’s multi-brand portfolio — officially linking arms with SESCO across both states.
Now, with this move into San Antonio and Austin, questions emerge: is this another hybrid in the making? And if so, what’s the next domino to fall in Texas?
Reading Between the Interstates
With a firm presence in Louisiana, SESCO borders Texas from the east. But rather than entering through the highly competitive Dallas-Fort Worth market or the Gulf gateway of Houston, they’ve inserted themselves into central Texas — not the most obvious starting point. Which raises a question: why now, and why here?
ERT's territory lies along Interstate 35 — a corridor of opportunity connecting San Antonio to Austin and northward to Dallas. If SESCO’s Texas strategy is to follow its pattern of incremental expansion, then I-35 may well be the path forward. Houston remains an open question, but proximity breeds inevitability in this business.
Any agent neighboring SESCO knows the feeling — when they show up next door, you start wondering if the next chess move will be in your territory.
Genlyte, Signify, and the Rise of Centralization
Behind every territorial shuffle sits a deeper manufacturer concern: portfolio control. Signify has bet big on SESCO. The agency represents Genlyte Solutions across wide swaths of the Southeast and now adds central Texas to its territory. That raises a real, if uncomfortable, question: just how much of Genlyte’s national revenue now flows through SESCO’s pipelines?
Is it 20 percent? 25 percent? Will it be approaching a third if they continue with a Texas expansion?
For Signify, that’s a concentration risk. For SESCO, it’s leverage. If Genlyte were to reevaluate its go-to-market strategy — or worse, consolidate its representation to fewer mega-agents — SESCO would be too big to fail, or at least too big to quietly replace.
Complicating matters, Signify continues to maintain separate rep channels for Cooper Lighting Solutions and Genlyte. But industry watchers have noted that both portfolios have struggled to keep pace with broader market growth and inflation. If the two-pronged strategy someday shifts, would Signify rethink its structure — and would the SESCO ties become a strong linchpin or a possible liability?
A Mega-Agent Model Continues
Houston-based competitor, Bell & McCoy — whose major line partner is Current, has made acquisition plays in Florida in recent years. Now SESCO is stepping into Bell & McCoy’s home state for the first time. While this creates a multi-territory Current versus Genlyte dynamic, there are numerous independent brands aligned with each agency in different makets that might now feel tugged in different directions.
With each acquisition, SESCO becomes less of a traditional agency and more of a regional force — one defined by breadth, continuity and a willingness to play the long game. Its model offers manufacturers a simplified path to market across multiple states, while giving clients a consistent experience across borders.
What comes next may depend less on the size of the footprint and more on how effectively it's managed. For now, SESCO keeps buying — and the rest of the industry keeps watching.
