Fidelity poised for growth after ADT deal
FIDELITY Security Group is poised for growth following the financial conclusion of its acquisition of ADT South Africa from Tyco, the New York Stock Exchange listed global fire protection and security company.
Tyco announced its decision to disinvest from South Africa and sell its core ADT security business to Fidelity in August last year.
Fidelity chief executive Wahl Bartmann said the merger and formal establishment of Fidelity ADT brought together two strong teams with deep industry knowledge and experience and positioned Fidelity ADT as the leading provider of both residential and commercial integrated security solutions in Southern Africa.
He said Fidelity ADT would provide an end-to-end integrated security solution for customers across the commercial, public sector and residential markets.
The financial conclusion of the transaction follows the Competition Tribunal last week approving the merger.
The transaction included all of ADT South Africa’s residential and commercial services and operations and the ADT Kusela guarding business.
Expanded scale Bartmann said the timing of the transaction boded well for the future of Fidelity ADT and expanded the scale and scope of services it could offer customers.
“If you add ADT’s armed response expertise and footprint in the residential market, as well as its security technology solutions, to Fidelity’s extensive capabilities in the guarding, cash solutions and integrated armed response sectors, you have a security firm perfectly aligned for future growth in the Southern African market,” he said.
Fidelity acquired Protea Coin’s cash-in-transit division in 2015 for between R500 million and R600m.
Fidelity ADT is a 100 percent South African, 54.62 percent black-owned company. It employs about 57 000 people and manages a fleet of 4 574 vehicles.
Bartmann said both companies would benefit because Fidelity would bring the capacity to provide ADT’s 365 000 residential, small-to-medium sized enterprises and larger commercial customers with a more integrated, proactive and robust security and guarding service in a localised community driven environment.
“Where many security companies only respond to crime incidents, Fidelity works to proactively mitigate crime in the communities in which it operates,” he said.
Stephen Wasdick, the global communications vice president at Tyco, last year told Business Report that the decision to sell its South African security business was the result of a regular review of the group’s businesses globally.
Wasdick stressed it was “an entirely commercial decision” and plans by the South African government to restrict foreign ownership of the security industry did not play a role in the decision.