ASG Plans to ring in 2007 with $2.5m in RMR

BELTSVILLE, Md.--Having just completed its sixth acquisition of 2006, ASG Security executives say they expect to "open up some eyes" by year end by reaching $2.5 million in overall RMR. ASG, which has made public its desire to acquire AISG of Albany, N.Y. (see story in the July issue of Security Systems News), on Aug. 28 finalized an acquisition of 830 customer accounts from Spectrum Alarm in Dallas/Fort Worth. The accounts, represent about $20,000 in RMR and will be folded into ASG's current operations in that area. "These kind of tuck-in acquisitions are the key to everything we do. We seek to increase account and market density in the areas where we operate today," said Bob Ryan, ASG vice president of sales and marketing. Spectrum Alarm's owner, Ken Winters, who founded the company in 1986, will help out with the transition for a little while, but is retiring to work on other business endeavors. "I've been thinking about selling for a while and in the last year or two I've talked to five or six potential buyers," he said. "I just liked ASG. They seem like really good people and they do what they say they're going to do. And, now that the transaction has taken place, I still feel the same way." Ryan called the accounts a "solid mix of well-seasoned, high-quality accounts that were built the right way, steadily over time. It's a great acquisition for us." Looking ahead, Ryan said, "We'll be very busy in the fourth quarter. We've got a few [acquisitions] teed up and should reach 10 by the end of the year." "Overall this boosts us to 70,000 customers and $2.3 million in RMR, and we expect through organic growth and additional transactions to be at $2.5 million by the end of the year," said Ralph Masino, ASG's chief financial officer. "In Dallas alone we have more than $600,000 in RMR," Masino said. Ryan noted that if you look at industry statistics, that figure represents "a giant company and we've built it in one market." Dallas/Fort Worth is ASG's second largest market. Its largest is Houston, where it does $670,000 in RMR.