June 24, 2025
Signify to Rejoin Light + Building After 2024 Absence
With new leadership in place, Signify returns to Messe Frankfurt and the world’s largest lighting exhibition
Signify skipped Light + Building in 2024. That absence was notable not just because it’s the world’s largest lighting company, headquartered less than 200 miles from the Messe Frankfurt fairgrounds, but because the fair thrived anyway. They weren’t the only ones: Louis Poulsen, LED Linear, FLOS, and Reggiani also stayed home.
With over 150,000 attendees from 146 countries and 2,169 exhibitors — 76% of them international — Light + Building proved it didn’t need the industry's biggest player to maintain its global stature.
Internally at Signify, the move wasn’t without tension. Then-CEO Eric Rondolat reportedly wasn’t enthusiastic about exhibiting. Instead, Signify sent its EnabLED licensing team, who walked the floor, met with licensees, and observed how others deployed the company’s intellectual property. But that was it — no booth, no product showcase, and no public commitment to rejoin.
Now, with Rondolat out and interim CEO Željko Kosanović in place, Signify is changing course.
Why 2026, and Why Now?
The press release is short on introspection, long on affirmation. “We’re excited to showcase the latest innovations from our portfolio of leading brands to customers from across Europe and beyond,” Kosanović said. He added: “We are more committed than ever to lead from the front, with our ecosystem of smart, connected and sustainable lighting solutions.”
The company is returning to Light + Building 2026 with a full lineup — from Philips LED luminaires and Dynalite controls to smart home stalwarts Hue and WiZ, to Interact IoT software and the custom-driven myCreation. The focus, Signify says, will be professional and OEM offerings.
It’s a notable pivot. The decision to exhibit again, and at scale, signals more than just marketing muscle — it reflects a strategic recalibration toward major public industry engagement.
Implications for LightFair and Beyond
Signify’s re-engagement with Messe Frankfurt could have broader implications, especially across the Atlantic. Messe Frankfurt owns one-third of LightFair, the North American trade show where Signify hasn’t exhibited since 2022.
Whether this renewed partnership will “grease the skids” for a Genlyte Solutions or Cooper Lighting Solutions return to LightFair 2027 in Las Vegas remains an open question. After all, a decision made in Europe may carry little weight with the teams controlling marketing budgets in Somerset, New Jersey (Exit 127) and Peachtree City, Georgia.
The Netherlands and Germany remain top five lighting markets for Signify. Their absence from Light + Building 2024 didn’t appear to hurt the fair — but it may have highlighted what Signify stood to lose by staying on the sidelines.
For all its emphasis on connectivity and sustainability, the real story is organizational. A leadership transition, a high-stakes event, and a global audience: these are the factors that seem to frame Signify’s return. It’s not a product reinvention — it’s a recalibration of priorities, staged deliberately in the industry’s most public arena.
