Universal Protection Services acquires Silver Shield

SANTA ANA, Calif.—In a move tied to its strategy of having security integration capability everywhere it has guards, Universal Protection Services on March 7 acquired Silver Shield Security of San Jose, Calif.

“Silver Shield is primarily a security guard business, but it's in a key area in the Silicon Valley. We expect this acquisition to open the door with relation to our integration business as well,” Steve Jones, co-CEO and chief operating officer of Universal Services of America, parent company of Universal Protection Services, told Security Systems News.

Universal Services of America is a $500 million company that provides guards, security installation and janitorial services. Jones said about $420 million of that revenue comes from the guard business; $40 million comes from its security integration business, and $40 million from its janitorial business.

Universal began as a guard company in 1965. It entered the electronic security business in 1997 with the establishment of Universal Protection Security Systems. In 2010, it acquired ProGuard and also branched out into video monitoring. Universal built a video monitoring center at its headquarters here that currently monitors a couple hundred accounts. It's a business segment that Universal is very interested in and will continue to focus on, Jones said.

Last fall, UPS grew its integration capabilities significantly with the acquisition of SFI. SFI accounts for about $30 million of Universal's $40 million in security installation revenue.

Universal's security installation capabilities are primarily located in California and the Carolinas, but Jones has plans to expand that segment.

“We'll be making a big push in the electronic security systems space,” he said. “We feel like we have the relationship base. … We have customers, in many cases long-standing customers, and we feel like there's an opportunity to bring in another service … on the janitorial side as well,” he said.

He said Universal has “a sizable war chest” and expects to make two more acquisitions by the end of the summer.