Convergint Acquired By Ares Management

but but but has your local Convergint office got any clue or is it just the trunkslammer in your 'hood that finally sold out because the old folks running the thing wanted to retire?  That's all well and good the stockholders are doing a happydance but how will this help the customers procure physical security solutions that dont' suck?  (Not all the Convergint acquisitions are bad, there are some jewels in there.  But there are also some zingers...)

Wow, crickets in here....

Based on what the market has done the past couple days, the Convergint guys may have cashed out at the perfect time. 

This is a very interesting article.

I have had many conversations over the years with dealer/integrator's of all sizes with regard to what an exit strategy may look like.

As long as Convergint can continue to build value, be it through acquisition or through organic growth. This is a tale that many integrator's should read with a smile.

The ability to scale up is something that most business owners want to be able to do at some point.

This shows that the American dream is alive and well and that it exists in our industry 

Hopefully they continue to build value and use the acquisition strategy to build an efficient company

I wish them well

In the short term, Convergint will win large and complex transportation, municipal and large entity projects due to buyers' comfort in dealing with a well funded entity comprised of successful integrators.  In the long term, as the participants that built the individual integrators depart or lose interest, the quality and responsiveness of Convergint's individual offices may suffer.  Similar to Siemens where some regional offices compete effectively and others act as general contractors with very little technical depth.

in response to your replies John

The answer to your first question has been answered by other comments including yours

The value that they are building is the larger coverage of their offerings

whereas larger corporate/government entities will  more readily give them projects on a larger more national and international scale 

The idea of synergies and economies of scale will be determined by their management's abilities to really bring that all together and be efficient and agile to take advantage of that

You look at a lot of the recent mergers and acquisitions on the manufacturer side

There are a few that have been able to really merge the businesses together to create real value and then there are those that struggle and keep the entities separate under one corporate umbrella

The real details will come out down the road if they were in fact able to accomplish this

as far as why integrator's should be encouraged by this news

Its not so much about Convergint buying them 

Of course if the right offer was extended, most integrator's  would not refuse

I think its more about the fact that when someone builds a business

They look toward the largest most successful entity in their field and look upon them as the "where can we go" it is encouraging to see this type of success is the point i am trying to make. Bottom line is it all looks good on paper now

The real question will remain, in a year or two from now

Will they crash and burn (hopefully not) due to the premiums paid on their acquisitions

Or will they really manage their business well and bring out the value and build on it 

I have no real knowledge here, just expressing my opinion for what its worth

I enjoy reading your articles John, keep up the good work !!

One tip-off in the press release was the lack of any statement attributed to Ares, even though “About” information was included.

IMHO, very unusual.

Has IPVM asked Ares what their thoughts are about their new “partner”?

Update: Convergint says they will do $1 billion in revenue in 2018, fueled both by organic growth and further acquisitions. This further supports our estimate of them pursuing ~$2 billion annual revenue in the next 5 years.