After buying NACC, IASG to consolidate centrals

ALBANY, N.Y. - Following the acquisition of National Alarm Computer Center from Tyco International in November, Integrated Alarm Services Group announced plans to consolidate its existing central station in Santa Fe, Calif. into the Irvine-based facility. As a result, the company will shift 150,000 accounts from the Criticom-branded central and some staff members into NACC, which now handles 230,000 accounts, during the first quarter of this year. Both central stations operate Monitoring Automation Systems’ Mastermind monitoring software platform. Timothy M. McGinn, chairman and chief executive officer at IASG, said the decision to purchase another central station on the West Coast and merge it with an existing property is a significant action by the company. “This gives us an opportunity to talk to dealers, and it is a real strong statement to the industry that we have not forgotten about third party monitoring,” said McGinn. Future account growth will not be hampered by the consolidation at the location, he said, “there’s plenty of capacity.” This sentiment is echoed by Michael Barnes, president of Barnes Associates, an investment banking and consulting firm that advised Tyco on the deal. “I think this was a very smart move to refocus on their roots of wholesale monitoring,” Barnes said. This deal gives IASG two excellent wholesale central stations, one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast, to work with, he said. In November, IASG paid $50 million in cash to Tyco for the NACC wholesale monitoring business, the largest deal the company has completed to date. It closely followed another high-profile transaction in the summer of 2004 - the acquisition of Glendale, Calif.-based Alliant Protection Services out of bankruptcy for $14.5 million. McGinn said the company has no plans to change the name of the operation, as a result of its acquisition of NACC. Over the next three months, there will be some changes in management at the central station, however. President Steve Baker, for example, will not make the transition to IASG. His replacement has been determined as of press time, said McGinn. McGinn said the acquisition has a significant impact on the overall business of IASG, not withstanding the additional recurring monthly revenue that NACC brings with it. The central station increases the company’s RMR by 30 percent, said McGinn, by producing $800,000 in RMR. NACC has changed hands often in the past few years. Tyco had purchased the central from Cambridge Protection Industries, then run by industry veteran Jim Covert. The previous owners, the Schubert family, founded and operated the business prior to the acquisition by Cambridge.