Security firm goes private

$6.9B merger behind move

ADT, the nationwide leader in residential security, has become a privately held company after its acquisition by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management.

ADT, headquartered in Boca Raton, agreed Feb. 16 to be acquired by the private equity firm in New York for $6.9 billion, or $42 a share. An Apollo affiliate is merging ADT with its Protection 1 security firm, which provides both residential and commercial security services.

As a result of the transaction, ADT is no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The headquarters of the combined company will remain in Boca Raton, and the company will operate primarily under the ADT brand, the companies have said. ADT has 450 employees in Boca Raton and 17,000 in 200 locations nationwide.

ADT, a 142-year-old company that began as a stock ticker company, has more than 6.5 million customers nationwide. The company was purchased by Tyco International in 1997 and spun off as a separate public company in 2012.

Timothy Whall, who was CEO of Illinois-based Protection 1, has been named CEO of the combined company. He said Protection 1’s strengths will be combined with ADT’s brand presence to offer security services in both the residential and commercial sectors.

Whall and his team are “highly recognized, highly respected in the industry,” said Jeff Kessler, managing director for Imperial Capital in New York.

Naren Gursahaney, former president and CEO of ADT, leaves the company with a $9.29 million “golden parachute,” or executive pay due to change of con-

trol, according to executive pay firm Equilar.

Under the proposed transaction, ADT was allowed to shop for another buyer but had no bids from 24 potential buyers it approached before the deadline in March. Shareholders approved the Apollo transaction on April 22 in New York.

Apollo is a global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Bethesda, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Apollo had assets under management of approximately $170 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015, in private equity, credit and real estate funds.