ACRE acquires Dublin, Ireland-based TDS

DALLAS—ACRE, a global leader providing state-of-the-art security systems, announced the acquisition of cloud-based workspace solutions provider TDS (Time Data Security), based in Dublin, Ireland.

Financial details of the transaction were not released. 

This is ACRE’s first acquisition since being acquired March 11 by Triton Partners.  According to ACRE, this purchase will enhance the company’s strategic expansion plans for strengthening the product portfolio and geography in the UK and Europe and bringing new cloud-based visitor management and access control products to North America. 

ACRE CEO Joseph Grillo stated that this transaction will continue to expand ACRE’s competitive position, noting, “We believe we can assist the excellent management team at TDS to leverage our existing reseller channels and end users to help grow this business globally under the ACRE umbrella.”

Grillo told Security Systems News earlier this month in an extensive interview, “Access control has always been a very rich and highly fragmented space, so it is harder to find companies of scale, but now we have opportunities to look at some things that may be more transformative with deeper pockets.”

TDS provides solutions that will complement the existing ACRE portfolio including the Vanderbilt, RS2, and Open Options brands. The company, which was founded by Frank Hart in 1990, has developed a portfolio of products including cloud-based visitor management, life safety and access control applications. TDS is a fast-growing company leveraging the accelerated adoption of digitized off-premise solutions in the security space.

“This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for TDS,” TDS Founder and CEO Frank Hart said. “We are delighted to join ACRE with its strong global reach, which will accelerate our growth plans and support our ambitions to be the top provider of smart workplace solutions for enterprise businesses. TDS’s senior board member Sean Murphy and I are particularly excited to work with Joe Grillo and the management team to further strengthen ACRE’s position as the global leader in the delivery of integrated technologies and services.”

Hart and Murphy will remain with TDS as CEO and Director/Board Member, respectively.