08/20/2009
From: SSN Newswire
By Martha Entwistle – 08.20.2009
WOBURN, Mass.— Ending speculation about where ASG would go next, the super regional officially landed on the shores of New England this week with the acquisition of Ultraguard Protective. And now that they’re here, ASG executives say they want to double ASG’s presence in the area by 2011.
The bulk of Ultraguard’s business (78 percent) is commercial. “The acquisition brings 8,200 accounts, $240,000 of RMR and 50 employees,” said Ralph Masino, ASG CFO.
ASG did an “extensive market study” before completing the acquisition, looking into “customer base satisfaction, market penetration, competitive information and [information about] what goes into customers’ buying decisions both commercially and residentially,” Masino said. And they liked what they saw.
ASG has entered a new market nearly every year since its inception in 2003. The move into New England creates a third region for ASG, which also has regional operations in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas.
“We looked long and hard and we’ve found a very good platform for growth in Ultraguard,” said ASG CEO Joe Nuccio. “The New England market is under-penetrated and we think there’s a great opportunity to tuck-in acquisitions to this platform as well as continue to grow internally. We’re confident that we can double the size [of our presence in the region] within two years,” he said.
Ultraguard will become ASG’s New England regional headquarters and a platform to expand throughout the region. Former Ultraguard co-owner Jim Baker will stay on as a VP and general manager to lead ASG’s expansion efforts in New England. All of the 50 employees will stay with ASG as well.
ASG senior vice president of sales and marketing Bob Ryan said he “spent some time with their team of seven sales people and they said they’re going to be the hardest working sales team we have.” They’re ready to “cast a wider net over the Greater Boston market,” he said.
Baker said he’s looking forward to implementing an aggressive, high-growth strategy and believes “there’s a lot of opportunity out there for acquisitions … There will be a lot of appeal for companies who are considering selling because ASG is not a typical acquirer … ASG is a high quality company looking for high-quality providers that they can help continue to grow versus going into a company, gutting it out and taking the accounts.”
“I’ve been doing this a long time, almost 30 years. I’ve seen ’em all,” Baker said. “Joe Nuccio, Ralph Masino, Bill Rose and Bob Ryan, there’s not a stronger leadership team that I’ve seen in security industry.”