SAI to deregister stock

January 23, 2003 ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Embattled wholesale monitoring firm Security Associates International announced that it was moving forward with plans to deregister its stock from the publicly traded markets. The company, faced with a slumping stock price and low trading levels, filed a Form 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to deregister its common stock, which means, effective immediately the company was no longer required to submit its regulatory filings with SEC. “In some respects it’s a prudent decision for the company,” said John Mack, president and chief executive officer of USBX Advisory Services. “They can focus on running the business and not spending too much money on public reporting.” Officials at the company said one factor in the decision was an anticipated substantial increase in SAI’s legal and accounting costs under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which makes more stringent the requirements of public companies. Under those new guidelines the expense of being a publicly traded entity could be close to $1 million for a company the size of SAI, Mack said. In a press release, SAI officials said that its board of directors took several other factors into consideration, including the reduced number of the company’s stockholders and the fact that the company’s stock is thinly traded. “This action will allow management of the company to refocus its attention and recourses on implementing the company’s business plan and exploring financing and strategic alternatives for the business,” company officials said in a press release. The deregistration was expected to take effect in about 90 days, the company said. In mid-December, SAI was notified that its stock would be stricken from its registration on the American Stock Exchange due to low trading levels. The company was assigned a new OTC Bulletin Board trading symbol of SECA.