Richard Ginsburg new CEO of Devcon Security

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.—Golden Gate Capital, the owner of Devcon Security—a super-regional based here that has been rapidly expanding as a national player in the past year—has named Richard Ginsburg as Devcon's new CEO.

Ginsburg formerly was president and CEO of Protection 1, one of the nation's largest security companies, from 2001 to 2010. Ginsburg joined Protection 1 as president and CEO in 2001 and is credited with turning the company around, greatly improving its operating and financial results. Protection 1 was sold to private equity group GTCR in April 2010. Since the sale of Protection 1, Ginsburg has served as managing partner of G3 Capital Partners LLC, a Miami-based investment firm and adviser to private equity firms in the security, telecommunications and recurring service industries.

At the time of the Pro 1 deal, Ginsburg declined to answer questions about his future, saying he was just focusing on the transaction. But others in the industry believed he would return, with the question just being when and where.

“The combination of Golden Gate as a financial partner and Devcon's position in the security space were extremely compelling in bringing me back into the industry and I believe there is an opportunity to move forward quickly," Ginsburg told Security Systems News in an email interview.

In a prepared statement that Devcon provided to SSN on Feb. 29, Christopher B. Munday, operating partner for Golden Gate Capital, said Ginsburg's experience would benefit Devcon, which has about 300,000 residential and commercial security customers nationwide. Golden Gate acquired Devcon in 2009.

“Devcon will benefit from Richard's expertise, leadership and vision as we take Devcon forward. Golden Gate Capital is committed to the thriving security space, and we are pleased to have attracted someone with Richard's level of experience to assist us in leading the company,” Munday said in the statement.

Devcon's most recent president and CEO was Robert Farenhem, who formerly was the company's CFO and came from Royal Palm Capital, a private equity firm that bought into Devcon in 2004.

Farenhem confirmed to SSN that he is no longer with Devcon, but neither he, Devcon nor Golden Gate provided any information on why he left.

Ginsburg does have a previous connection to Devcon. He founded a company called Guardian International in 1993 and served as CEO through 2001, building it into one of the 20 largest security monitoring companies in the United States. Devcon purchased Guardian in 2006.

Last fall, Devcon and Orem, Utah-based Pinnacle Security, which also is owned by Golden Gate Capital, announced a shared services agreement starting in 2012.

Farenhem said at the time that the agreement would allow Pinnacle, a summer sales model company, and Devcon, a traditional security company, to leverage each other's strengths.

"We are committed to the goal of becoming a top leader in the security industry.  Devcon and its preferred partner, Pinnacle, are perfectly positioned to achieve this goal," Ginsburg said.  "We'll be talking more about our strategy in the near future—Devcon is a company to watch.”