Integrator Surveillance Specialties buys twice

WILMINGTON, Mass.--After more than a decade in the security integration space, Surveillance Specialties, known as SURV, has made its first acquisition. Two, in fact. The company announced this week the acquisitions of Boulos Security Systems, based in Portland, Maine, and Advanced Lock, of Milford, N.H. Financial terms of the deals were not released, but Justin Davis, SURV chief operating officer, said the company picked up roughly 15 employees and "hundreds, if not thousands, of accounts, of varying sizes." He said both companies add both geographical reach and unique skill sets. For example, Boulos "does a lot of fire installation and fire inspections, which we don't really do in our current line of business," Davis said. And lock work "is a specialized art," he said. "We'd used Advanced Lock as a subcontractor previously, and we knew them as a good company and a good group of individuals. We knew we wanted to get into the lock world more and that was a great way of doing it." With SURV's capabilities in access control, through its Software House relationship, combined with Advanced Lock's specialty, "Now we can own the door," he said. "There's going to be a lot less finger pointing. It's just one phone call and customers know they'll get their [door] issue resolved." With these acquisitions in hand, Davis said SURV, under the leadership of founder Arthur Bourque, would continue to look for growth opportunities, and not necessarily in the installation space. Its raXess product, a rack-mounted access control panel that won the NTS Innovation Award in access control at ISC West, has allowed the company to get into manufacturing as well. "Organizations have to change in order to not be left behind," Davis noted. "RaXess allows us to diversify our portfolio." Advanced Lock was founded and owned by Jon Bossie, who will remain with the company, along with all of his employees. The Milford offices will be closed, however, and consolidated here with SURV. Boulos, an LLC, was owned by CBRE/The Boulos Company, and will remain in its Portland offices with upper management and employees staying on as part of a wholly owned subsidiary of SURV.