Alarm Capital Alliance has new dealer program

LAS VEGAS—Alarm Capital Alliance, a Media, Pa.-based company that purchases accounts from alarm dealers, unveiled a new independent dealer program at the ISC West show here.

“We're just really excited to get the word out to the industry about our program. It allows dealers to run their business like they've always run it, with the availability of additional cash flow,” Kelly Bond, VP of sales and marketing for Alarm Capital, told Security Systems News in an interview before the show.

Features of the program include “aggressive multiples,” flexible purchase options, and specialized equipment pricing with the leading manufacturers, according to a statement by company president and CEO Amy Kothari in a company press release.

Bond declined to reveal details on the multiples but said they're “very competitive.”

The company encourages dealers to keep as many of their own accounts as possible, Kothari said in the release.

“As it is in our bulk acquisitions,” she stated, “the unique element of our program is allowing dealers to use their decals and yard signs and truly market their business in their own name. We even have their name on invoices to the subscriber. Our goal is to help independent business owners realize their own success.”

Now in its eleventh year, Alarm Capital, which generates about $3 million in RMR. It closed on a $100 million credit facility last May, which was led by Bank of America and was solely for new acquisitions the company said. Through full or partial acquisitions, the company purchased $735,969 of RMR last year—25,829 accounts—putting its customer count at 101,000, Kothari said in the release.

She said the company has worked with about 200 alarm dealers, many still providing service on the accounts they sold to Alarm Capital.

Alarm Capital focuses on block acquisitions—buying as many as 2,000 or so at a time. “We purchase the accounts and take over the billing, while keeping the dealer very much involved. Even though they've sold the account they still provide the service for it. If the customer wants additional equipment, or has a referral, all of that goes directly to the dealer. That's what sets us apart.”

Bond said Alarm Capital got requests from dealers that it create a dealer program that would work the same as the company's bulk purchase program.

“We've had a lot of success with this model so it made sense to us to put together a dealer program using the same model,” Bond said.

Bond said the company has had a type of unofficial dealer program for several years with some of the dealers who sold to it in bulk.

“ACA's new independent dealer program meets the needs of select companies across the U.S. who market their business in their own name and keep an ongoing relationship with the customers they sell.”

Bond said, “Our goal is to bring on more of a traditional dealer that is looking for an opportunity for additional cash flow but who still is out there running his business like he always has.”