SnapAV, Control4 Complete Merger to Form Unified Smart Home Business
SnapAV’s $680 millon deal for Control4 is finalized with 99% shareholder approval. New mega-company remains focused on professional install channel only.
With a combined 1,200 employees, SnapAV CEO John Heyman will lead the merged teams as chief executive officer, while former Control4 CEO Martin Plaehn joins the board of directors of SnapAV’s parent company.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — SnapAV, a leading manufacturer of A/V, surveillance, networking and remote management products for professionals, and Control4 Corp., a leading global provider of smart home solutions, jointly announce the completion of their $680 million merger.
First announced in May, the acquisition was approved by 99% of Control4 shareholders, according to John Heyman, CEO of SnapAV. Unified into a single organization, Control4 is now the smart home brand in the SnapAV portfolio.
“The smart home industry is poised for massive growth, and much of that growth will be driven and satisfied by professionals. Our team shares a passion to deliver fantastic experiences to homeowners and businesses,” says Heyman.
“Through this combination of industry leaders, we have organized ourselves around delivering a unified and integrated company that gives dealers one place to go for the best and broadest selection of products, greatest technical support, most rewarding sales programs, robust training resources, and more.”
With a combined 1,200 employees, SnapAV CEO John Heyman will lead the merged teams as chief executive officer, while former Control4 CEO Martin Plaehn joins the board of directors of SnapAV’s parent company. Jeff Hindman joins the executive team as chief revenue officer, while former Amazon Alexa executive and Control4 SVP of products & services Charlie Kindel is named chief product & technology officer.
Mike Carlet will serve as the chief financial officer. Additional executives of the combined company include Jeff Dungan, G Paul Hess, JD Ellis, Barrett Schiwitz, Bryce Judd, Carmen Thiede, Graham Jaenicke, and Wally Whinna.
The company will have headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices and local facilities around the world.
Combined, the companies report 18,000 integrators as customers, including 3,000 internationally.
“We are excited about being a one-stop-shop for integrators,” Heyman tells CE Pro. “Our investors have doubled down on this industry. Combined, we are investing $200 million per year in this industry.”
SnapAV, Control4 Brand Roadmap
The combination brings together a large product catalog of in-house brands and third-party products. The combined company touts its product engineering teams, award-winning customer service, education and training programs, and in-field technical support all targeted at professional installation.
The SnapAV product development team led by Charlie Kindel as chief product & technology officer envisions a roadmap that blends deep innovation with simplicity, interoperability, and quality.
“We know this to be true: the number of connected devices in the home will continue to increase. Homeowners want help removing complexity so they can enjoy life at home more and manage technology less,” says Kindel.
“We’re focused on the vision of making end-customers rave about our fantastic products and the great living experiences our dealers create with those products. Through this merger, we will fulfill the true promise of the smart home,” says Kindel.
Kindel tells CE Pro his priority is to make sure the ecosystem created by by Control4 continues to thrive with rich APIs and an expanding number of devices and use cases for integrators.
He admits there are some overlapping brands within the combined portfolio, namely Pakedge and Araknis in networking, OvrC and BakPak in remote systems management, Triad and Episode in audio. All those brands will continue to be supported today.
Heyman is quick to point out that SnapAV already has several equipment categories with multiple lines, especially when you include the third-party sales arrangements that SnapAV has in place with several manufacturers.
“We are comfortable accommodating multiple products in a particular category,” adds Heyman.
Together the combined company offers a broad product portfolio. The Control4 Smart Home OS operating system interoperates with nearly 14,000 devices from hundreds of manufacturers and it will continue to be available only through Control4 Authorized Dealers, says Heyman, who also indicated to CE Pro that for now, Control4 is not available via any of SnapAV’s local distributors. He noted that it could be sometime in the future, but again, it will only be sold to authorized dealers.
Bryan Naquin, owner of Acadian Home Theater and Automation in Baton Rouge, La., is enthusiastic about the merger.
“The merger feels like a game-changer for my company, and for the industry. As one company, it means more help with all my installation needs which would simplify my business, and make it much easier to support my customers,” Naquin said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the combined company will evolve.”
Dealers can expect to see continued investment in both local and international expansion. Ordering products will remain the same for now, but over time, the combined portfolios will be made available through online ordering, shipping, and local pickup.
SnapAV intends to invest further into the international markets Control4 has established including the UK, Ireland, China, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
“Today is day one of this journey, and we are just getting started. SnapAV is committed to investing relentlessly in the success of its dealers and fueling broad industry growth to better serve our shared customers. We believe in the importance of professionally installed systems, and we are laying the groundwork to ensure those businesses succeed long into the future,” concludes Heyman.
(This article first appeared on SSI sister publication CEPro.com.)
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About the Author
Jason Knott
Jason Knott is Chief Content Officer for Emerald Expositions Connected Brands. Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990, serving as editor and publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He joined CE Pro in 2000 and serves as Editor-in-Chief of that brand. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the CEDIA Business Working Group since 2010. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California. Have a suggestion or a topic you want to read more about? Email Jason at [email protected]
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