ASG's buys Fleenor Protective Systems, adds 50 employees and UL-listed central

BELTSVILLE, Md.—Super-regional ASG Security started 2015 with the acquisition, announced today, of Fleenor Protective Systems, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based full-service security company.

Mike Fleenor, former owner of Fleenor will join ASG, as will 50 employees. The deal also brings ASG 5,200 customers, $210,000 in RMR and a UL-listed Five Diamond-certified central monitoring station.

Fleenor's Knoxville office will become ASG's new Eastern Tennessee branch. ASG declined to discuss terms of the deal.

ASG CEO Joe Nuccio said the plan is to complement Fleenor's “local expertise and relationships” with ASG's “marketing expertise and national account platform [among other capabilities] to attract more customers.”

ASG CFO Ralph Masino pointed out that Fleenor has a long-tenured customer base. “More than 50 percent of their customers have been with them for five years or longer,” Masino said. Its customer base is 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial, which includes banks, schools, mid-sized commercial and other small businesses.

Fleenor pointed out other ways that the deal will benefit both parties.

“ASG is much further down the road than we are [on the connected home]. They'll be able to come in and train our tech guys and sales people to present and install that technology, which will be appealing to our people and to our customers,” Fleenor said. “On the other side, we do video verification and remote guard services from our central station, and we'll be able to expand ASG's offerings in those areas.”

Knoxville is a new market for ASG. Nuccio said ASG will enter at least three new markets in 2015. The super-regional's strategy of acquired strong local players and generating organic growth means ASG can offer “regional density, local flair for service and national capabilities.”

ASG's managed services are an important part of its commercial menu. And, while other security companies have had limited success with hosted video, Nuccio said ASG has done very well with this service.

What's ASG's secret?  The super-regional's size and resources are important, but a big reason it's succeeding with managed services is because it's been committed to this model for a few years, Nuccio said.

“[Managed services] is not a part-time sale [for us], it's a permanent fixture in our portfolio. It's our long-term strategy to continue to develop our managed services and to stay on the forefront of technology,” Nuccio said. “SaaS is a huge part of our strategy to turn installation [revenue] into subscription-based services.”