Siemens buys MAC Systems

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill.--Siemens Building Technologies announced this week the acquisition of MAC Systems, a security systems integrator based in Canton, Mass., and serving the greater New England area. MAC, founded by Bob McMenimon in 1981, specializes in access control and security management, and employs 60. "This indicates that we're continuing to identify those parts of the country where we see better than average potential for growth," said George West, vice president and head of Siemens Building Technologies Security Solutions business unit. "We're not trying to build out a geographic footprint," he said, noting that SBT already had an office in Canton. "We've got a national footprint already, so it's really about maximizing return for the shareholders, and maximizing the ability to serve our customers and MAC was consistent with that." Though this is Siemens Building Technologies' first buy in the security space since analytics maker Vistascape in the fall of 2006, West said this does not indicate a change in philosophy or new focus on acquisitions. "There will consistently be a mix of organic growth and acquisitive moves," he said of the company's growth plans in the near future. McMenimon will remain with the company for the foreseeable future, but West said it was still too early to know what Siemens will do about MAC's role in the integrator network SecurityNet, an organization for which McMenimon served as president in 2006 and 2007. "We haven't had that discussion yet," West said.