Ackerman Security Systems Acquired by Private Equity Firm
Toronto-based Imperial Capital Group and a partner firm purchased a majority stake in Ackerman Security for an undisclosed amount.
Ackerman Security Systems has been purchased by private equity firm Imperial Capital Group of Toronto and its partner OPTrust Private Markets Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ackerman also proved appealing to Imperial given its successful management team, as well as an “outstanding group of shareholders whose success we can only hope to emulate,” Silvestri continued, saying there will be no changes to the company’s management chain of command.
Along with increased financial fire power to grow the company, Silvestri said Imperial and OPTrust will provide Ackerman with a lot of bench strength at the respective firms to help the management team strategize and analyze future moves.
“Coupling those elements with a management team who are outstanding executors, we think is a powerful combination,” he said. “We’ve also employed the help of industry veterans Rich Perry and Brad Sparrow, both of whom will sit on the board at Ackerman. We think this is a very good opportunity for Ackerman’s employees, its management and our investors. We are looking forward to a win-win outcome.”
Callahan said discussing Ackerman’s specific near-term strategic initiatives would be “premature at this point,” but that the company intends to focus on organic growth in the Atlanta and Washington, D.C., branch locations, as well as marketing to its current customer base. He said Imperial’s investment would also allow the company to pursue its intent to ramp up its commercial and national accounts business.
Future acquisitions could also be in the offing, Callahan said, but don’t expect the company to all of a sudden go on a buying spree.
“We will look at acquisitions. It’s not really been our stock and trade in the past. We generally can create accounts cheaper than we can buy them, so growth at Ackerman over the years has been organic – 97% of it anyway has been organic growth,” he said. “But that is not to say we will not look at an acquisition. If the right deal comes along we’ll certainly take a look at it.”
Jeff Pranaitis and Alper Cetingok of Raymond James Financial Inc., and Michael Barnes of Barnes Associates Inc., advised Ackerman Security on the deal. The Edmonds Group acted as exclusive advisor to Imperial and OPTrust in the transaction.
About the Author
Rodney Bosch, Senior Editor
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com. Bosch is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism. In 2007, he successfully completed the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s National Training School coursework to become a Certified Level I Alarm Technician.
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