Red Hawk acquires SDT

BOCA RATON, Fla.—Red Hawk Fire & Security LLC, a fire, life safety and security company based here, announced the purchase of Security and Data Technologies Inc., a company located in the Philadelphia area with expertise in commercial fire alarm and security integration. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Red Hawk CEO Mike McWilliams told Security Systems News that he has known and respected SDT for many years. “They really wanted a chance to grow out their business and partner with a bigger organization that could support some of their growth ideas,” said McWilliams. “This is a good fit for us and really fills a hole in Philadelphia, especially from a fire alarm perspective, and somewhat from an integrated security perspective as well.”

He said this deal helps Red Hawk to continue extending its reach to customers in Philadelphia, and the tri-state area of Eastern Pennsylvania, Central and Southern New Jersey and Delaware.

In business since 1988, SDT is located in Newtown, Pa., and was established by industry veteran Jerome Paley who along with his team have built the company into the largest independently owned fire alarm distributor in the Philadelphia area, McWiliams said, noting that he is “thrilled to welcome the talented team” from SDT.

“All of the employees at SDT are joining Red Hawk,” said McWilliams. “We are keeping their office and relocating our office in Trevose to the SDT office, so we will have a combined bigger operation out of that office now.”

SDT president Jerome Paley said in the announcement, “We share our employees enthusiasm as we join together with a growing leader like Red Hawk. We have found a like-minded culture where we put the customer first in everything we do. We are excited to be a part of their winning team.”

In addition to the fire alarm expertise, McWilliams is excited about adding SDT's AV expertise. “We don't do a lot of audio-visual work in our East coast offices, so this adds a capability that we will be able to bring to our other East coast offices.”

McWilliams said Red Hawk has several other acquisitions in the pipeline that it hopes to close in the next 60-90 days that will fill in some of the geography holes in the Midwest and the Great Plains states. The company is also having its best organic growth year to date, he said.

“We are off to a really good start the first half of the year,” he said. “Our growth rates are over what we budgeted—above what our normal organic growth rate has been for the last five years.”