Family and shareholder happiness and the trend toward integrated systems are two main reasons Pittway sold to Honeywell, according to King Harris, CEO of Pittway Corp. In an exclusive interview with Security Sales that will be published in the upcoming April edition, Harris touches on numerous topics, from the reasons for the sale to potential layoffs to the future of the industry. Answering the “big question” of why Pittway sold to Honeywell, Harris says, “We saw obvious advantages by combining with Honeywell. We have [believed] for many years that the entire alarm industry is moving toward integrated systems.” He continues, saying he sees Honeywell as “almost like a turnkey provider of control solutions and energy management solutions to enterprises around the country. It is a very interesting approach. It is something that is currently not done today in the alarm business.”
Harris believes Honeywell can bring that same approach to the alarm business using Pittway products. Harris also says the sale was consummated because of his desire to reward long-term Pittway investors, including his family. “I felt that the sale of Pittway to Honeywell provided a very clean exit for our family and many of our long-term shareholders.” The Harris family—which includes King Harris’ father, Neison, chairman of the board, and his uncle, Irving, chairman of the executive committee—owned 4.2 million of Pittway’s 6.4 million Class A shares. Regarding potential job losses among Pittway employees from the sale, Harris says the 30-person Pittway corporate staff’s jobs in Chicago will be eliminated. The company is working to find other positions for those employees.
