Diebolds expands reach in Mexico with purchase

NORTH CANTON, Ohio--As part of a strategic plan to expand into new markets internationally, Central de Alarmas Adler, a subsidiary of Diebold and full-service alarm company, increased Diebold's reach in Mexico with the purchase of Cerberus Pyrotronics Servicios, a division of Siemens and full-service alarm company, this June. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The buy comes at a time in the Mexican and Central American marketplace when the demand for security solutions is growing. Diebold wanted to be in a position to latch on to that upward market, said V. John Stroia, vice president of government and monitoring solutions for Diebold Global Security. Adler and Cerberus served similar customers in two different locations in Mexico. The Cerberus buy will add more than 2,800 alarm-monitoring accounts to Alarmas Adler's customer base. It was a "natural follow to keep growing our capabilities in Mexico," he added. Diebold bought Adler last April, which was the "first step of having more presence as a security integrator in Mexico," Stroia said. Although Diebold Mexico has a very strong presence in the financial self-serve market community, as it does in the United States, Stroia said, the buy "takes us more into the retail and commercial side of the business," as well as expanding the company into the various geographic regions of the Mexico market. Diebold also applied UL standards to the monitoring center, something that is not required in Mexico, to remain consistent with its monitoring centers around the world. There is, however, more private guard response in Mexico, as opposed to police dispatch. And due to the cost of labor, there are a lot more areas that have on-site security rather than monitoring, Stroia said, "But that is changing." In March, Adler added IP alarm monitoring to its commercial and residential accounts as many customers are moving away from dial up. This progression reflects the boom the market is experiencing, he added. After the acquisition of Adler, Diebold preserved its name, which has served the northeast Mexico market for more than 30 years. Still, said Stroia, "When they want a security system, folks say, 'I want to get an Adler.'"