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ADT-Broadview deal to close May 19

ADT-Broadview deal to close May 19 Details begin to emerge about how integration of the companies will work

IRVING, Texas—Barring a shareholder-meeting surprise, the ADT-Broadview deal is set to close May 19. Broadview announced March 23 that it would hold its shareholders meeting here on May 12 to approve the sale.

This announcement followed a video presentation to employees a week earlier by ADT North America president John Koch, where Koch announced that ADT had anti-trust clearance for the transaction and gave an update on integration activities.

J.D. Keller, who heads up ADT's dealer program, acknowledged during an ISC West interview with Security Systems News that the transition time before the Broadview deal closes is challenging. Dealers are nervous, he said. As soon as the deal closes, “we'll be able to meet with the [ADT and Broadview] dealers and get started,” he said. “But right now, we're direct competitors.”

During his video presentation, Koch made a similar acknowledgement, saying being part of the integration of an acquired company “can feel unsettling.”

Koch told employees that the ADT and Broadview integration teams had their first joint-integration planning meeting at ADT HQ in Boca Raton, Fla., the week before ISC West. “It was great for the teams to finally work together,” Koch said.

Who's in charge of the integration efforts?

Koch explained that he, Broadview CEO Bob Allen, and ADT Americas president Naren Gursahaney make up the Executive Steering Committee, which is responsible for “providing overall direction and guidance.”

Meanwhile, managing the plan are Broadview EVP Shawn Lucht and ADT's VP of operational excellence Ramon Genemaras. They're in charge of the “Integration Management Committee,” which comprises employees from Broadview and ADT from different departments like Sales, Marketing, Customer Care, Operations, Human Resources, IT, Finance, Real Estate, Procurement and Public Company Functions.

Each of the different departments—Koch called them functional areas—are working with attorneys to put together “charters” which he said outline “priorities, work that's in and out of scope, and interdependencies with other departments.”

The idea is to make sure everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

Koch explained it this way: “For example, in customer-facing areas, charters are looking at how to best handle customer inquiries during the integration. We know that existing and new customers will have questions after the deal closes, so we are looking at ways to make this an easy transition for them.”

To ensure that they keep “our customers and team members as top priorities,” they've created three cross-functional teams to work on customer retention, customer acquisition and organizational structure.

“These areas impact every single corner of the business. That's why we've built them as independent priority programs … to ensure we remain focused on them,” Koch said.

And to help the two companies understand each other, they've conducted a culture survey.

The survey showed that “both companies are focused on the customer, are values-driven, and results-oriented. Both Broadview and ADT also have a thirst for innovation and strive for excellence. The survey also revealed differences in perceptions of cost versus quality. We will build upon our shared attributes together and we will also learn from our differences,” Koch said.

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