Last year, Convergint Technologies powered itself to the top five of the annual Security Business Fast50 thanks to its organic growth coupled with seven different acquisitions in 2017 that spanned the East Coast – from Miami up to Minnesota. The company added around 1,000 new employees – or colleagues, as Convergint executive prefer to say.
Then, in February of 2018, Ares Management took over for KRG Capital as Convergint’s financial/equity partner – pouring the proverbial gas on the already strong blaze of the company’s M&A activity. After the Ares changeover, Dan Moceri, the company’s Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, told Security Business that “as we go forward we will continue to hire one or two colleagues every day somewhere in the world, and the pace of growth will continue for many years into the future. We will also continue our successful acquisition strategy and you will see more announcements in the months to come.”
Indeed we did. The year 2018 saw a few significant milestones for rapidly growing Convergint: They added their 4,000th colleague, and they topped the one billion mark in gross revenue. In addition to U.S.-based acquisitions that spanned from coast to coast, the company expanded its international focus on security integrators, acquiring Altel of Canada, Astec Security of France and Integrators Australia.
“Our growth strategy is clear – to be our customers’ best service provider. Every day around the world our colleagues strive to be just that, and so we also work to grow our team to better meet our customers’ security and life safety needs,” explains CEO Ken Lochiatto. “We have been fortunate to attract the industry’s best colleagues and companies as we work to meet this goal. Their commitment to serving our customers and our communities are the same today as they have been for the past 18 years.”
In all, Convergint made nine acquisitions in 2018 to help power what was already nearly top-of-the-industry growth. And as with most of its acquisitions, the employees from the acquired company quickly become valued Convergint colleagues. Do not expect that trend to slow down in 2019 and beyond; in fact, Convergint has already acquired two integrators this year, MTS Security of Ireland and Security Solutions & Management (SS&M) of North Carolina.
“Convergint will continue to seek out companies with strong reputations for customer service, cultures that add to ours, and fits with our strategic plan. As with all of our acquisitions, they must fit with our 'Values & Beliefs,'” Lochiatto says. “Between our acquisitions and aggressive recruitment strategy, we will see another year of expanding on our ability to be our customers’ best service provider in 2019.”
While Convergint takes the long view as it competes with the biggest global security integration firms, VP of Security Tony Varco offers the following advice to companies hoping to achieve the same sort of phenomenal growth: “Take an unflinchingly honest look at your culture and approach to service,” he advises. “Without a strong, defined culture and an exceedingly strong customer focus, it is difficult to attract the talent you would need to scale.”
Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Business magazine. Email him your comments and questions at [email protected]. Access the current issue, full archives and apply for a free subscription at www.securitybusinessmag.com.
