There has been a rumor going on recently about Hikvision buying ADI. We have no idea if it is true and are not here to speculate on that.
What is interesting is whether this would be a good deal?
We know Hikvision has a multi-billion pot of cash and we saw another Chinese company weeks ago buy Ingram Micro so it certainly is in the realm of possibility.
My gut feel is that it is a great fit. But a few others I have talked to think it would be terrible.
My thoughts:
- ADI is the best vehicle to reach the low end dealer
- Hikvision can stuff their products to every low end dealer directly and they can get other security products from China, cut out the OEMs / resellers and sell there
- They gain physical facilities all over to ramp up their $10 billion revenue goal which will need a few billion out of North America
- Sadly, Hikvision would have a much higher customer service and competency level than ADI.
Objections I have heard include whether ADI dealers would buy from the Chinese government but I think the average trunkslammer would buy direct from Mao if the price was right and it was in stock.
Agree / disagree? What do you think?