Comunale says SDC deal brings known quantities inhouse

HOUSTON—Tri-Ed Northern president Pat Comunale told Security Systems News that the acquisition, announced Nov. 23, of Security Data & Cable HQ, is a strategically important purchase that brings a well-known business and security executive into the Tri-Ed fold.

Danny Cranford, the former owner of SDC, “opened up the original Houston branch for ADI in 1990,” Comunale said. “I've known him for the better part of 20 years.”

Cranford “spun out his own operation [from ADI] several years ago,” Comunale explained.

Tri-Ed/Northern's senior management team —Comunale, James Rothstein, and Steve Roth—are all also veterans of ADI.

Financial terms of the terms of the SDC deal were not announced, but Comunale said that Cranford and “the entire team he put together at SDC are joining Tri-Ed.” The team includes Jay Piper, Erin Green and David Wilson.

SDC has two locations, one here and one in Austin, Texas. Comunale called the acquisition is a good fit geographically and noted that SDC's “portfolio of products really mirrors what Tri-Ed has right now.”

The integration of SDC is underway this week and the new branches will be “live on our system next week,” Comunale said. “We have made several small acquisitions and our finance and IT departments know exactly what to do,” he said.

Expect Tri-Ed to make more acquisitions, likely in Q1 2011, he said. Where might those acquisitions be? “Geographically we cover the country with next-day delivery to most customers and two-day delivery everywhere in North America,” he said. Comunale said there are some cities in the Southeast, particularly in the Atlanta market, where Tri-Ed is looking to expand. “We hope to fill that out in the first quarter next year,” he said.

“We're looking for targets that fit our model, the security intrusion space, with a focus on the IP market. Obviously our merger with Northern Video made us the dominant video distributor in the North America, and we're going to continue to expand,” he explained.

This acquisition brings the total number of Tri-Ed/Northern branches to 43.