Convergint expands in Ireland

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Convergint Technologies, a global service-based systems integrator, recently acquired MTS Security, one of the largest independently owned security systems companies in Dublin, Ireland, supplying a single-source solution to clients in the U.K. and Europe.

Ken Lochiatto, CEO of Convergint Technologies, said that MTS Security enables Convergint to deepen its service offerings and capabilities in Europe while adding high-level talent in Ireland.

“We've known the entire MTS management team for a long time and we are very culturally aligned with the same kind of service focus, so I am truly excited to get them to be part of the organization,” Lochiatto told Security Systems News. “They bring their 95 colleagues to our team in Europe as we continue that journey of being a business that focuses on multi-national [clients] in Europe. It just made sense for us to have the resources in Ireland, which has a small population but plays a really outsized role in multi-nationals who operate across Europe.”

With a focus on complex enterprise solutions, MTS has built strong relationships with many global customers throughout Europe, including those in the technology, retail, pharmaceutical and industrial markets.

“I have admired Convergint's growth and development in the global security market in recent years,” Mark Tuohy, founder of MTS Security, said in the announcement. “To team up with Convergint and combine our resources will undoubtedly project our business to the next level and allow us to provide our customers with unrivaled service.”

According to Lochiatto, Convergint's continued expansion is driven by the needs of its customer base, which is continually growing and in need of sophisticated service on a global, enterprise-wide level. Since Convergint's first acquisition in Europe in 2015, four other European companies have joined Convergint, and Convergint continues to expand organically into new countries across Europe.

Lochiatto said the company continues to experience a nice mix of both organic and acquisitive growth. “We finished the year at just below $1.1 billion in revenue, which is tremendous growth for us organically and through acquisition, which was terrific. We are forecasting another year of double-digit growth, [and are] excited about the orders and the pipeline of opportunities that we have. Our backlog is up over 20 percent year over year, so it gives us a lot of confidence for the future.”

In addition to strong growth, Convergint continues to expand “into advanced solutions, or the capabilities that run beyond the typical integration and into the software and deployment,” Lochiatto explained. “We will also expand on the types of acquisitions to reflect some of these other areas that help us expand the depth and scope of capabilities that we can offer our customers.”

He noted that Convergint also made an acquisition in December of a small company in the UK that is “bringing ideas on how we automate aspects of our business in ways that could be a real productivity play for what we bring to the industry.”