Convergint starts year strong with acquisition

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Convergint Technologies, a global service-based systems integration company based here, started the year off strong with the acquisition of Post Browning, a full-service systems integrator that provides consultation, installation, and maintenance for the retail banking industry. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Post Browning strengthens Convergint's footprint in the Ohio Valley and Southeastern United States with expert personnel throughout the region.

Convergint's executive chairman and co-founder Dan Moceri told Security Systems News that Post Browning met all of the criteria when it comes to making an acquisition.

“From a cultural perspective, they are a very strong service organization and that is how we have grown Convergint over the past 15 years,” he explained. “When we look at the leadership and what they bring to our organization, we are very excited about that, as well as the whole geographic coverage. The more we spoke to [Post Browning president] Kevin Sheridan and his team, the more we got excited of the nice fit between the two companies.”

Moceri said that Post Browning brings an impressive suite of expertise to Convergint's capabilities within the financial vertical. “Kevin will continue to expand our business within that sector, and we are very excited for him and his nearly 100 colleagues to join the Convergint team,” he said. “We will make additional investments to capitalize on both the Post Browning acquisition and our investment last year in Dakota Security Systems.”

The influx of new talent was a big plus for Convergint, as the company is “still hiring somewhere between one and two people a day somewhere in world,” noted Moceri. “We have never done acquisition based on synergies. Because of the rapid growth that we have experienced, we need good people, so we are excited that everyone from Post Browning is staying on board with us.”

Since its founding in 2001, Convergint Technologies has established a successful track record of both organic growth and growth through acquisitions.

Convergint had another record year, with revenues in 2016 growing 26 percent to just shy of $600 million, according to Moceri. “About 10 percent was organic growth and then the balance was through acquisitions, so we come into 2017 very strong and we expect similar performance this year in terms of overall growth,” he said, noting that he expects to be upwards of $700 million in revenue for 2017. “We have a very strong funnel of activity so we expect organic growth to be up around that 10 percent-plus mark again and we also have a very strong funnel of potential acquisitions to continue to grow the company.”

The driving force behind Convergint's consistent growth, Moceri said, is its commitment to service from day one.

“The service we provide is big differentiator and we win a lot of customers based on the level of service and the number of value-added services that we can deliver,” he explained. “We make huge investments in service infrastructure every year. And on the innovation side, we try to stay ahead of the curve in understanding where our customers are going and what we need to do to support them to achieve their business objectives—providing value beyond just security by using a lot of security technologies to help customers meet business objectives.”