Swedish security services company Securitas AB ended talks about a possible tie-up with British competitor Chubb PLC, saying it couldn’t reach a deal attractive enough for shareholders.
Securitas said Chubb’s price was too high, and that Chubb would not have contributed to the company’s expansion targets. Securitas’ CFO Haaken Winberg says Chubb also wouldn’t have sufficiently contributed to Securitas’ business growth targets.
One London-based analyst said Securitas and U.S. conglomerate Tyco Int’l Inc. are the only two players large enough to absorb Chubb. Tyco told Dow Jones recently that it isn’t thinking about such a move.
Analysts say a tie-up with Securitas would have unlocked huge potential for Chubb, strong in electronic security systems and alarms. Securitas has more operations on the guarding side. Winberg said Securitas is still ready to make acquisitions in Europe or the U.S.
