ASG consolidates in South Texas, acquires Laredo Alarms

BELTSVILLE, Md.—In a deal that boosts its RMR in South Texas to $1.2 million, super-regional ASG Security has acquired Laredo Alarms of Laredo, Texas.

“We dominate in this part of Texas,” Joe Nuccio, ASG CEO, told Security Systems News.

“We've known Fidel Gonzalez (former owner of Laredo Alarms) for a long, long time. He's run a high quality company for about 29 years. We're fortunate that he considered selling the company to us and today he's with us and will run the Laredo region [for ASG].”

“Laredo has a great presence in commercial fire, and this deal adds to the commercial fire presence we have there already,” Nuccio said. In addition, Gonzales is NICET Level IV certified. With ASG, Gonzales “adds to the team of NICET Level IV professionals we have across the country,” Nuccio said.

ASG CFO Ralph Masino said the deal brings 2,500 customers and 30 employees. “Now in South Texas we have 21,000 customers, which represents $1.2 million in RMR,” Masino said. The deal also includes a “state-of-the-art” central station.

ASG's presence in this region has grown significantly over the past 10 years, Nuccio said.

“We had $260,000 in RMR when we first entered this market in 2004. That grew to $1.1 million in RMR all through organic growth and now with Laredo, we're at $1.2 million in RMR,” Nuccio said.

There's continued upside for growth, Nuccio said. “There is a lot of opportunity in the whole state of Texas. … This is really a continuation of the same strategy we've had forever,” he said. Buying the right companies and then leveraging the infrastructure for organic growth is ASG's mantra, Nuccio said.

ASG chief marketing officer Bob Ryan said it's great for ASG to acquire Laredo Alarms because that company was ASG's main competitor in the area. “Whenever you can [acquire a primary competitor], it's a huge lift to the sales organization,” he said. “You combine the two sales teams and strategically it's really, really nice. This is a big pick-up for us.”