Doyle builds density with buy

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—Regional security company Doyle Security Systems is celebrating Thanksgiving with the acquisition of a local competitor, a deal that brings in some technical talent and several hundred mostly commercial accounts.

Doyle acquired accounts from Alert Protective Systems, also based here. John Doyle, company CEO and president, said Doyle has provided monitoring for Alert for many years. “The previous owner is a great guy. He sold the accounts because he's retiring.”

The company typically does four or five tuck-in acquisitions annually. About half of those deals are with companies that Doyle provides third-party monitoring for. It makes for an easy account transition, he said.

The family-owned business is celebrating another milestone: It is now officially into its fifth generation. Jack Doyle—son of current owner John Doyle and namesake of his great-grandfather who founded Doyle Security Systems in 1919—recently joined the company. He is overseeing the company's mass marketing initiative.

Doyle said he has four children who are welcome to join the family business, but there are ground rules. “They need to get a related degree and then they need to work somewhere else for a while. They need to get an independent start,” he said.

Doyle Security Systems had about $747,000 in RMR and $13.3 million in revenues at the end of 2014. He expects to have $800,000 in RMR and $13.7 million in revenues by the end of this year.

Asked about the biggest opportunity for 2016, Doyle said he expects continued growth on the commercial side of the business, but he said there's dramatic growth potential on the residential side. “That's driven by the costs of [residential] systems going down and the features of the system going up,” he said.