Devcon trumps Innova in Adelphia security buy

January 27, 2005 DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - Devcon International made a large significant move towards building its security services division, Devcon Security Services Corp., this week as it became the high bidder for Adelphia Communication’s security arm. Devcon bid $42.8 million for the cable company’s security division - Starpoint Limited Partnership, which operates as Checkpoint Limited in Florida and Adelphia Security in New York. That bid trumped the previous high offer of $38.2 million by Innova Security Solutions, a division of Boston-based private equity firm Alta Communications. Even though Innova was the high bidder for the business late last year, Adelphia, which has been operating under Chapter 11 protection since 2002, was required by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to place the business up for auction to ensure the highest value. According to Erica Stull, director of external communications for Adelphia, now that Devcon has been identified as the highest bidder, the sale now has to be approved by the court. A hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 28. Stull was unable to comment further on how the deal will affect the businesses at this time. Now, Devcon has an opportunity to add the cable conglomerate’s approximately 57,000 security subscribers to its account base. According to a press release, the company would account for 62,000 customers if the acquisition is completed. Devcon International, a publicly traded construction firm and distributor of ready-mix concrete, burst into the security arena in fall of 2004 when it secured $18 million in financing and purchased Security Equipment Co. for $4.5 million, which brought Stephen Ruzika - former president of ADT Security - to the company. For more on this story, see the March issue of Security Systems News.