ASSA ABLOY acquires Germany-based maker of DoorBird

STOCKHOLM—ASSA ABLOY announced it has acquired Bird Home Automation GmbH, a German manufacturer of high-quality IP door intercoms for single and multi-family buildings, and for indoor station or smartphone control, marketed under the trademark DoorBird.

Terms were not disclosed.

"I look forward to welcoming DoorBird and their employees into the ASSA ABLOY Group,” said Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY. “DoorBird is a strategic technological addition to the ASSA ABLOY Group and will reinforce our offering with IP door intercom and provide complementary growth opportunities."

"I am delighted to welcome the DoorBird team to the EMEIA [Europe, the Middle East, and Africa] Division,” noted Neil Vann, Executive Vice President of ASSA ABLOY and Head of the EMEIA Division. “This acquisition supports our efforts to accelerate our growth in the Smart Residential segment and continue our journey as a leader in home security. DoorBird has built a successful and attractive product and service offering, that is highly respected in the markets they serve, and I look forward to working with them on their evolution within the ASSA ABLOY family."

DoorBird was established in 2014 and has approximately 110 employees. The company’s headquarters and production plant are in Berlin, with sales offices in San Francisco and Jacksonville, Fla.

According to DoorBird, ASSA ABLOY “has the size and scale to further invest in the relevant market sector and further expand the DoorBird brand as part of its smart home and access control offering. Being part of the ASSA ABLOY Group offers both companies the opportunity to better serve their customers and develop new opportunities for the future through the complementary capabilities of both companies.”

Sascha Keller, CEO of Bird Home Automation, added, “Having founded DoorBird in 2014 and continuously developed it since then, we have had an incredible journey and built a very successful business. To continue to grow and scale the company, we concluded that it was time to find a new owner to take the company forward and help it thrive in the years to come. ASSA ABLOY emerged as the best candidate to acquire DoorBird. They bring a wealth of technology, resources and capabilities to support the continued success of our business.”

The news of ASSA ABLOY’s acquisition comes just two weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit to block ASSA ABLOY’S proposed acquisition of Spectrum Brands' Holdings Home and Hardware Improvement division.  

In its complaint, the DoJ alleged that the acquisition would eliminate important competition between the companies and would drive up prices, while lowering the quality of goods and services for consumers for at least two different products, smart locks and premium mechanical door hardware.