15 December 2021 – Retex, active in the digital transformation and innovation of retail, is pursuing its strategy of growth with the announcement of the acquisition of the marketing and communication company Connexia. The operation will further strengthen Retex’s strategic plan to support brands in the realisation of increasingly engaging and high-value experiences for customers, both digitally and physically.

The partnership between Retex and Connexia is a strategic combination of skills and talents, in different but perfectly complementary and integrated fields, to support the new needs of structured partnerships that are required by brands and crucial for the new market scenarios: business & communication consultancy, technology, digital transformation, creativity, content, media, data and martech.

Digital services to support practical retail, which – thanks to technological innovation – is becoming common in all industries and is no longer only typical of large-scale retail, food & beverage, fashion & luxury, or design.

Retex will acquire a majority share of Connexia and has confirmed the management team at the helm of the agency, with Paolo d’Ammassa as CEO and Massimiliano Trisolino and Andrea Redaelli as Managing Partners, who remain shareholders and will be reinvesting in Connexia.

“We are proud and happy to welcome into the Group one of the brightest and most innovative teams in the Italian world of communication and marketing agencies, whose colleagues hold values that are perfectly aligned to the whole Group.
Connexia will help us to write new success stories, where creativity, content, data, and media will harmonise perfectly with our consolidated technological experience as digital transformation innovators in a practice (that of retail) that must be understood as a combination of technologies and experiences to enable an increasingly “human” connection between brands and people,”
explains Fausto Caprini, CEO of the Retex Group. “We are living in a time of extraordinary transformation: we want to anticipate and govern the cultural changes that are overwhelming entire industries, adopting sustainable innovation paths to support our clients. This is why the acquisition of Connexia is of strategic importance for Retex, bringing new perspectives and different points of view, thanks to a combination of skills and solutions that is unique on the market”.

“At Retex we have found the same entrepreneurial spirit and agile approach to continuous experimentation that has always distinguished us and allowed us to grow the business and reputation of all our client brands over the years,” affirms Paolo D’Ammassa, CEO and Founding Partner of Connexia. “We will work with our new colleagues in the Group to create unforgettable brand experiences that engage target audiences and bring them together organically in successful digital commerce experiences.

We will maintain our status as a benefit corporation: indeed, we are committed to extending this status to Retex, which shares our values related to issues of diversity and inclusion.   

We can’t wait to innovate again, contributing to the consolidation of an extremely valuable Group with a more international outlook and a unique value proposition in the market”.

“I have always said that only companies where people are happy will be able to endure long-term,” adds Marina Salamon, hitherto owner of 80% of the shares through Alchimia S.p.A.. – In Retex, beginning with founder Fausto Caprini and Managing Directors Chiara Laudanna and Andrea Negrin, we have found the perfect companions for a new journey full of passion, values, and a desire for change. These are characteristics that have always distinguished Connexia, throughout its history. This is why we chose each other, and why we embraced the project right from the start: I am grateful to the entire Connexia team led by Paolo d’Ammassa, with whom we have built and innovated so much.  The best is yet to come.”

In 2021 Connexia is set to achieve results that are more than 30% higher than the previous year, at over €23 million. This consolidates a €75 million and €7.5 million Ebitda group, which aims to reach over €100 million by next year.