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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT MARKET TRENDS Lots and lots of IP cameras See page 33 A primer on buying a direct competitor See page 20 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 8 AUGUST 2013 $7.00 ■ COMMERCIAL & SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS ■ ■ TycoIS sues competitor PAGE 16 SDI grows with purchase PAGE 17 FIRE SYSTEMS INSTALLATION ■ ■ Will there be a new CO law after hotel deaths? PAGE 22 AllSafe ensures that Dallas courthouse is safe PAGE 22 MONITORING ■ ■ Dynamark acquires in Ohio PAGE 24 Nationwide goes to N.C. PAGE 24 RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS ■ ASG makes four buys in Q2 PAGE 28 SUPPLIERS ■ HID gets patent for gesture-based access control PAGE 31 www.securitysystemsnews.com AT&T;'s Monitronics to buy Security monitoring Networks for $507 million operation After deal, Monitronics will have 600 dealers, 1 million customers earns industry award By Martha Entwistle New entrant qualifies for Five Diamond certification By Leif Kothe D A L L A S — AT & T, w h i c h launched its Digital Life home security/home automation platform in April, has received Five Diamond certification from the Central Station Alarm Association, the company announced in June. "We are pleased to have received the CSAA Five Diamond certification as only fewer than 150 of approximately 2,700 central stations a c ro s s t h e U.S. achieve this status," a n AT & T representative told Security Systems News. "And we are even more pleased to have done so in a matter of a few months of operation since our commercial launch." To receive the certification, a central station must be UL-listed and all of its operators must pass the CSAA central station operator level I online training course. Becky Lane, vice president of membership and programs at CSAA, said the certification is a sign that AT&T; "understands the importance of certification and training" in the monitoring space. Some cablecos and telecoms entering the security market are AT&T; see page 26 ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Monitronics will have more than 600 dealers and 1 million accounts when it completes the $507 million acquisition, announced July 12, of super-regional security company Security Networks, the 14th largest residential alarm monitoring company in the United States. The deal, which is expected to close Aug. 16, includes $487.5 million in cash, and 253,333 newly issued shares of Ascent Series A common stock with an agreed value of $20 million. The purchase price, which is subject to agreement at closing, is based upon Security Networks delivering RMR of $8.8 million. Security Netw o r k s h a d Mike Haislip 2012 revenues of $78.5 million and adjusted EBITDA2 of $46.5 million. "We want to take the best of Security Networks and the best of Monitronics and put them together so we have the best dealer program in the country," Monitronics CEO Mike Haislip told Security Systems News. The combined entity, which will continue to be headquartered in Dallas, "will be a bigger, stronger company that is able to support our dealers and be an even better opportunity for new dealers who want to join the program," he added. Security Networks, which is based West Palm Beach, Fla., has 225 dealers and 195,000 accounts. Rich Perry, CEO of Security Networks, will not join Monitronics, but the nearly 300 other Security Networks employees will stay with Monitronics. MONITRONICS page 26 Petratis named CEO of VMS PLAY Tyco will IR spinoff ÔAllegionÕ $2 billion spinoff will take place end of 2013 By Martha Entwistle and Tess Nacelewicz SWORDS, Ireland—Ingersoll Rand, which previously said it planned to spin off its security products business at some point t h i s y e a r, announced in June that Allegion will be the name of the new company and that it will have revenues of $2.05 billion. In a separate announcement in early July IR announced that David Petratis will serve as CEO, president and chairman of Allegion. Petratis, slated to start his new job on Aug. 5, will join Allegion from Quanex Building Products, where he is currently CEO, president and chairman. Quanex, based in Houston, is a manufacturer of building products. Previously, Petratis was COO and CEO of Schneider Electric North America from 2003-2008, where he is credited with increasing North American operations by more than $2 billion, doubling its revenue and completing several successful acquisitions. From 1994 to 2003, he was president of MGE UPS Systems Americas. IR also revealed Allegion's new logo in July. Misty Zelent, a spokeswoman for Ingersoll Rand, based here, told Security Systems News that the name Allegion "really represents the collaborative long-term ALLEGION see page 32 purchase Exacq in $150m cash deal By Martha Entwistle NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland—Tyco announced in June that it will acquire VMS provider Exacq Technologies in a $150 million cash deal. The deal extends Tyco Security Products' video portfolio. The capabilities and ease of use of the Exacq products will help Tyco "address the needs of a very different type of video user than we do with our current portfolio," Mike Ryan, president of Tyco Security Products, said in a prepared statement. TYCO page 32