After taking the helm of Protection 1 in 2010, Tim Whall proclaimed an intent to exponentially grow the sputtering national accounts division inside the largely residential-focused company. The goal: take the roughly $6 million business unit to $100 million in three years. Whall and his executive team are working to reconstruct a commercial division at ADT, following last year’s blockbuster deal by Apollo Global Management to acquire (stripped of its commercial business in the Tyco split) and merge it with P1.
Fueling P1’s success in the hotly contested national accounts arena is a handful of strategic acquisitions consummated in recent years. These regional ADT integration specialists provided P1 with complex skill sets, highly sought-after clientele, and a customer-centric business culture that dovetails with its own.
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Most important, and unique to the industry, was to retain key executives and allow them the autonomy to operate free from corporate bureaucracy that may otherwise smother their business acumen and the ability to execute initiatives that made them successful in the first place.
“The companies that we acquired brought in leadership in specific areas of the commercial business that furthered Protection 1’s capabilities in integrated systems, network security and sophisticated video applications,” Whall explains. “The companies that we acquired were led by owner/operators that were deeply entrenched in the day-to-day operations and provided high-touch and personal service to their customers.”
The acquired companies that operate within P1’s Integrated Solutions (IS) division, and the owners and executives that stayed on, include: Camtronic Security Integration (Jay Linton, Jim Finley and Paul Yezzi); Integration Logistics (Ken Schafenberg and John Smolinski, who retired); Suntera Security (Les Paul Vernon); Vintage Security (Bert McDonald); and Pacific Security Integrations (Rick Osborne).
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At ISC West 2017, P1 hosted a dinner for the group, dubbed the Owner’s Club, to mark the (roughly) five-year anniversary for several of the members. Each of them has assumed a leadership position as director, vice president or senior vice president. (Joe Nuccio of super-regional ASG Security, acquired concurrently in 2015 by Apollo with P1, assumed a role as senior vice president of business development prior to being appointed president of ADT’s dealer partnerships in May).
Read the complete article on our sister publication’s website, Security Sales & Integration.
