CSG is three for three

TULSA, Okla.—Central Security Group has added 6,000 customers and boosted its RMR to more than $7 million with its acquisition of Allied Protective Systems, its third buy in three months.

The purchase of Oklahoma City-based Allied brings CSG's total accounts to just over 200,000, CSG president and CEO Richard Ginsburg told Security Systems News. About 60 percent of those accounts are residential, he said.

CSG has offered all of Allied's 25 employees continued employment, Ginsburg said.

It will close down Allied's Oklahoma City office and relocate locally to a new space “three or four times the size, near the Oklahoma City airport,” Ginsburg said.

CSG is “hungry” for further acquisitions, he said.

“We'd like to do more. It's an unusual time in the space right now,” he said.

Ginsburg said he was flattered that Johnnie Fletcher, who established Allied in 1972 and “built it from the ground up,” wanted to sell to CSG when he decided to retire.

Allied was Fletcher's “baby,” and he “wanted to put his company in the hands of someone who would take care of his customers and his employees, and that means a lot,” Ginsburg said.

Fletcher echoed those remarks in a prepared statement. “I selected CSG/Guardian because of their reputation and my desire to see that my employees and customers were taken care of after the sale,” Fletcher said.

CSG operates as Guardian Security in Oklahoma.

Over the years, Allied grew through referrals and traditional marketing, Ginsburg said.

“They've had customers for decades. They are stable, stable customers.”

Still, this gives CSG the opportunity to introduce those traditional, stable customers to its Alert 360 interactive services.

“You don't put all of your eggs in one basket,” Ginsburg said.

CSG's acquisition of Allied was transacted by Barry Epstein of Vertex Capital.

In addition to being on the lookout for future acquisitions, CSG has been busy with rebranding and updating its website look, all to focus on next-generation, mobile products and services.

It also has relaunched its dealer program.

“We understand the dealer pressures and how we can help out with our dealer program. It's our biggest channel. This is a company that has grown through its dealer base,” Ginsburg said of CSG.