Cunningham Security acquires two

YARMOUTH, Maine—Cunningham Security Systems, a commercial and residential security company based here, recently acquired two companies, adding approximately 3,200 mostly residential customers, $150,000 in RMR and a UL-listed central station to the company's growing, commercially-heavy account base.

“We acquired Northeast Security Systems in Wiscasset [Maine], and they have a UL-listed central station, so that is a fairly big move for us because we have always used a third party central station,” Michael Major, owner of Cunningham Security Systems, told Security Systems News. “So the ultimate goal for us is to migrate our entire account database up to Wiscasset so that we will have our own in-house central station services instead of third party.”

Cunningham closed on Northeast Security on Sept. 30, and also closed on the acquisition of another mostly residential company, Great Falls Security, based in Auburn, Maine, on Oct. 30. Cunningham retained all employees from each company. Financial details of the deals were not provided.

“Both companies had been in business for well over 30 years, were well established with a really good sticky customer base,” said Major. “We went from about 24 employees to 56 and from 7,500 monitored customers to more than 10,000—it has been a whirlwind couple of months.”

Although the company is still strong on the commercial side, Major noted that these acquisitions help the company grow the residential side of the business.

“We are more heavily weighted commercial, probably a 60-40 split commercial to residential, but with the addition of these two companies, we are probably closer to a 55-45 percent split, as we picked up quite a few residential accounts and RMR,” Major explained. “The growth opportunities with these new accounts are pretty significant, especially with the ability to offer additional services and grow our RMR even more.”

Major said that newly hired general manager Steven Hayden, who was previously with Maine Security and Surveillance, will be an essential resource as the company transitions to a new central station.

“Steve was a great hire for us, and having him here as GM has worked out very well for us, especially with the recent acquisitions,” said Major. “He has been in the central station business for a long time at his last position, so he provides that experience that we need in that area, and is also helping us to sustain our growth.”

Total RMR for Cunningham year to date is around $350,000, and the company has averaged between 7- to 14 percent growth for the past 10 years, according to Major.

“This year is no exception and we are probably approaching double-digit growth this year and will exceed last year's growth overall,” he said.

That growth, he added, is attributable to the company's reputation as a service provider.

“We are more of a service-driven organization than a sales-driven organization,” Major noted. “I attribute a lot of the commercial growth on the exceptional service that we provide, as I often hear that it is not about price, but more about getting the service that the client needs when they need it, which is what we do very well.”