MSA Systems Integration is independent—again

EATONTOWN, N.J.—Jim Hennessy, who sold his systems integration firm to MSA Security in 2008, has repurchased the company with the help of other members of the management team and MidCap Equity Partners.

“It's a very amicable split. We have a great relationship with MSA Security. We will continue to recommend [their services] and they will continue to recommend us. We'll share some leads,” Jim Hennessy, president of MSA SI, told Security Systems News.

Terms of the deal, which closed on April 13, were not released.

Hennessy sold his integration firm to MSA Security in 2008 and it was renamed MSA SI. MSA Security is a group of security companies that provide a number of different services, including bomb-sniffing dogs, threat and risk assessment, counterterrorism threat and intelligence analysis and remote X-ray screening through its “SmartTech Technology.”

Since 2008, MSA SI grew from one office here to six (New York, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles) and it now has 75 employees. MSA SI had $30 million in revenues in 2014. Its management team includes Dave Hickson, Kevin Mulligan and Ray Dean. Dean joined the company in July 2014.

Hennessy said MSA SI will likely rebrand in the future. The systems integrator works in a number of vertical markets and has particular expertise in the energy market. “We do work for utilities across the country,” he said.

MidCap Equity Partners, based in New York, knows the company well; it helped Hennessy sell the company to MSA in 2008. Hennessy said MidCap “picks and chooses who they do work with, and it's usually a long-term investment.”

The focus in coming months will be on “extreme customer service … employees and margin growth,” Hennessy said.