'Industry is still attractive'

MCLEAN, Va.--Alarm.com, a provider of wireless and web-enabled security and monitoring technology for residential and commercial customers, announced Feb. 17 an acquisition by a group of investors, led by ABS Capital in partnership with Alarm.com's CEO Steve Trundle. The group closed on the deal Feb. 13, purchasing the company from prior majority owner, MicroStrategy.

Trundle said the acquisition shines a beacon of hope for the industry in tough economic times. “I think, more than anything, it probably means that the security industry is still an attractive place for investment right now,” he said. “I think the message is about the industry being either anti-cyclical or positioned neutrally in this bad economy, and it's playing well with the investment community.”

Alarm.com vice president of marketing Mary Knebel said the investors who participated in the buyout are perfectly suited to help Alarm.com grow. “ABS has a lot of experience growing companies,” Knebel said. “And we also have Egis [Capital], which is a security industry investor. So we're very excited to have investors who understand our business and understand how to help us get to the next level.”

According to Knebel, another positive message of the management buyout is that it is nearly invisible to Alarm.com's dealers. “It's going to look exactly the same,” Knebel said, “except for the fact that we'll be able to move more quickly. We're going to be more nimble because we're not part of a large parent company that's publicly traded.”

Ralph Terkowitz and Bobby Goswami, general partners at ABS Capital, and Robert Chefitz, a partner at Egis, will join Trundle on Alarm.com's board of directors as a result of the transaction.