SAFE Security acquires Safeguard Security

SAN RAMON, Calif.—In a deal that brings it 300 employees, $1.5 million in RMR, 25,000 customers, a guard business and a central station, SAFE Security, based here, has acquired the alarm business of Safeguard Security, a super-regional that's been family owned for more than 50 years.

“The Safeguard acquisition is the beginning of a new era,” Paul Sargenti, SAFE Security CEO and president, told Security Systems News. He added, “It's the fulfillment of a long-term plan to get the company more operationally equipped to manage our customer base."

Sargenti decllined to discuss terms of the deal.

SAFE Security does about $37.5 million in revenue, has $4.1 million in RMR and 117,000 accounts. It has a central station here in California. SAFE will acquire all divisions of Safeguard, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., except for two specific businesses. It will continue to use the Safeguard name.

Last month Sargenti told SSN about some new initiatives for SAFE that included establishing branch offices.

“Adding vertical competency is only one of the things Safeguard does for us,” Sargenti said.

Look for SAFE to continue to add more locations around the country, particularly in regions where SAFE has minor satellite offices and a high density of customers. How and when those expansions will take place will depend upon “which opportunities arise,” Sargenti said.

SAFE has many customers in Arizona. “It's our second or third largest regional market,” he said.

Asked why he decided to sell Safeguard, CEO John Jennings told SSN, “It's the right deal at the right time.”

Jennings said he wants to “pursue speaking, mentoring, and consulting opportunities that will not require the time and worry that's involved in running a business day in and day out.”
He said he's happy to sell the business to Sargenti and SAFE Security. He believes Safeguard's infrastructure and employees will be a “great fit as a platform business” for SAFE.

Jennings is retaining two businesses—the larger commercial construction business and Quickpass, a visitor management software business that's run by Jenning's daughter, Sarah Jennings.

“Right now [QuickPass] is a $2 million business. The hope is to quadruple its revenues in three to five years,” he said.

SPP advised SAFE Security; Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp advised Safeguard.