US security equipment Company Infinova Corporation has paid $87.5M in cash to acquire Melbourne based Swann Corporation a family security business that was established in 1987.
The Infinova Group is a US security products manufacturer who currently sells IP and analogue technology security solutions. Based in New Jersey.
What is not known at this stage is whether the Melbourne operation will remain in Australia
Swann is world’s number 1 branded in do-it-yourself surveillance Company.
Established in a garage at David Swann’s family home in Melbourne the business now operates in over 40 countries on 6 continents. Swann has offices in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, China and Russia.
In a joint statement issued today, Swann Security CEO, Ian Barton and CEO and President of Infinova, Dr Jeffrey Liu, said the merged operations will enable the Group to compete in more segments of the security systems and hardware market.
Swann becomes an operating subsidiary of Infinova as the parent company, and continues business as usual with both companies operating as separate entities.
The statement said substantial benefits would be gained by pooling R & D technology resources to develop new equipment and systems.
The deal creates new opportunities for Swann to enter the high-end of the market and Infinova the capacity to leverage Swann’s strong presence with retail partnerships.
Both parties described the deal as an ideal synergy.
Founder and Chairman David Swann will depart the company in December 2014.
David commenced the business in 1987 making modems in his family garage. He embarked on the security and IT peripherals 10 years later after recognising the future growth of the business was in home and office security.
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David Swann said “Swann is now poised to achieve even greater heights by utilising the resources of Infinova which has made significant inroads into the high-end industrial sector, a market we have never be in before and I wish them every success in the world, he said.
He said the global DIY security monitoring equipment market is growing by around 20% per year and the timing to move forward is right.
Swann is the global leader in the DIY domestic security market commanding nearly 45 per cent of the $700million industry.
Over 80 per of its sales are outside Australia in over 40 countries through more than 35,000 retail outlets.
It has built valuable partnerships with the world’s largest retail groups including Cosco, Walmart, Amazon, Office Depot, Radio Shack, Fry’s and DataVision in the US and JB Hi Fi, Dick Smith, Harvey Norman, Bunnings and Masters in Australia to name a few.
Swann recently established sales operations in Russia, Western Europe and Germany.
