For the second year in a row, Canon made the biggest M&A move in the security marketplace in 2015. How could Canon top the industry shockwaves it created in 2014 when the Japanese giant acquired VMS company Milestone Systems? That’s easy: They bought Axis Communications for $2.8 billion in 2015.
Although the Canon-Axis deal grabbed the most headlines and was easily the most shocking M&A announcement of 2015, it was certainly not the only big news on the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) front. Consolidation seemed to be breaking out all over, although the announcements were generally positioned as “strategic” rather than in response to market forces.
Here’s a look at the Top 10 M&A stories in 2015, as covered by SourceSecurity.com:
Canon Inc. made a public offer to the shareholders of Axis Communications to transfer all of their shares in Axis to Canon. The total value of the offer was approximately $2.8 billion – Canon’s biggest acquisition to date. The move was further evidence of Canon’s confidence in the video surveillance market – and its intent to be a big player in the market.
Phybridge made its mark in the communications industry as a manufacturer of long-reach transmission technology. Looking to target the security industry as a lucrative new market for that technology, Phybridge agreed to purchase NVT, a well-known supplier of IP and PoE transmission. Phybridge is looking to leverage NVT’s position and reputation in the security market to boost its sales of long-reach PoE and Ethernet over new or legacy coax and UTP cable.
Cloud-based integrated security solutions provider 3xLOGIC saw how well its products fit with those of infinias and announced acquisition of the cloud access control company. Adding access control is a natural extension of 3xLOGIC’s video products, including the VIGIL VMS and business intelligence, data management and cloud-based services. Access control was the “missing piece” in their overall product offering.
| FLIR Systems and DVTEL were late additions to our Top 10 M&As, with a $92 million acquisition in late November 2015 |
4. ASSA ABLOY acquires Quantum Secure
ASSA ABLOY has made hundreds of acquisitions since 1994, and continued the pattern this year. Given ASSA ABLOY business unit HID Global’s focus on identity, it makes perfect sense they would acquire Quantum Secure, whose SAFE software suite is a robust, policy-driven application to will help enterprise customers achieve their identity management goals. The SAFE software suite allows organisations to manage identities across multiple sites for employees, visitors, vendors, and contractors.
Video management software (VMS) company On-Net Surveillance Systems, Inc. (OnSSI) announced a definitive agreement to acquire SeeTec AG, a privately held German-based company providing VMS solutions to European markets. As one of the first providers of network-based video management applications, SeeTec provides offers targeted solutions aligned with customer requirements and industry-specific processes. Among other factors, the acquisition supplies OnSSI a new software recorder and ended their longtime OEM agreement with Milestone.
6. NICE Systems sells Physical Security unit (now Qognify)
NICE Systems entered into an agreement to sell its Physical Security business unit to Battery Ventures, a technology investment firm. NICE’s Physical Security business unit provides video surveillance technologies and capabilities to help organisations be more security-aware. The NICE security business later announced its new name – Qognify.
7. Entrepreneur Dean Drako acquires Brivo
Brivo announced that the cloud-based access control company had been wholly acquired by Dean Drako, entrepreneur, president and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks. With this acquisition, Drako pledged to apply the strategy and execution processes he used at his other successful companies, including Barracuda Networks, to leverage Brivo’s technology lead and growth trajectory. Combining Brivo’s cloud access control with Drako’s cloud video surveillance company Eagle Eye Networks seems to make a lot of sense.
| Consolidation was a recurring theme of 2015, and seems to be poised to continue in 2016 |
8. Panasonic buys Video Insight
Panasonic Corporation of North America entered into an agreement to acquire all shares of Houston, Texas-based Video Insight, Inc., a developer of video management software, as part of its strategy to expand business opportunities for both companies in the education market in North America. Founded in 2002, Video Insight provides enterprise-class video management solutions for security systems to over 25,000 customers in the financial, government, retail and transportation sectors as well as 6,500 K-12 school and college customers.
9. Securitas buys Diebold Security business
Consolidation extended to the integrator market, too, as evidenced by this large deal. Securitas agreed to acquire the commercial contracts and operational assets of Diebold Incorporated’s Electronic Security business in North America, and will operate as Securitas Electronic Security Inc. Diebold´s North American Electronic Security business, based in Green, Ohio, USA, is the third largest commercial electronic security provider in North America.
Late in 2015, FLIR Systems, Inc., announced that it had acquired DVTEL, Inc., specialising in software and hardware technologies for advanced video surveillance, for approximately $92 million in cash. DVTEL develops and distributes integrated video management system (VMS) software, advanced video analytics software, visible and thermal security cameras, and related servers and encoders. The combination enables FLIR to be a full-spectrum end-to-end security system provider, serving the consumer, small and medium business, enterprise, and infrastructure-level markets.
See the full coverage of 2015/2016 Review and Forecast articles here