The Fire and Security sector: Consolidation is key

Fire and security is a sector of particular expertise for KBS Corporate, and one in which we have orchestrated many successful sales through the years. Matthew Sibley, Associate Director, discusses the industry’s current trends and what company owners need to know.

If you were creating a Venn diagram of industries, fire and security would certainly find itself inside a sub-section where the circles overlap.

The sector could be coloured in a shade derived from those allocated to the engineering, construction and manufacturing industries – which serves to illustrate its appeal to company buyers.

That’s because a prevailing theme in business sales currently is consolidation. Acquirers, especially in the fire and security sector, are increasingly taking on the guise of a top Premier League manager like Pep Guardiola or Mikel Arteta during a transfer window.

“Buyers of fire and security companies are really looking to add depth to their group in certain areas, a bit like a football squad,” explained Matthew Sibley, KBS Corporate Associate Director.

“The main theme these days is consolidation to increase breadth and depth in two sectors that are very complementary to each other.

“There are also other cases where acquirers focus on opportunities which can open doors to more potential revenue streams, such as companies whose client bases are, for example, shopping centres or local authorities. They are looking to add more breadth to their service offering and more depth in that they call upsell and cross-sell.

“But the main focus is on the synergistic USP element, as in, if I’m a buyer, what can you as a seller bring me that I don’t already have?”

The answer? Something that takes them beyond their own circle on the Venn diagram, or, relating to the football analogy, a different skillset to what the squad already possesses.

Fire and security continues to be a highly productive sector for KBS and in the spring of 2024, New Path, a Southampton-based group that acquires well-established businesses which have built up brand recognition and reputation over many years, made two acquisitions through us.

One of those was Electrifire, a Kent-based specialist in fire alarm installation, access control and CCTV systems, in a transaction overseen by Matthew Sibley.

“Some groups now have the capability to roll out multiple deals and obviously the quicker they do that the larger they grow, so consolidation is really starting to snowball for certain buyers in the industry,” said Matthew.

“I’ve been with KBS for 10 years and it’s interesting to have seen acquirers come and go during that time. When I first started, there were large entities in the sector that are no longer as active in acquisitions as they used to be, and then new players came into the market and started making a name for themselves.

“Others come along with an acquisition template in terms of how they put forward offers and if it works, they keep going with it.

“Fire and security are bundled together a lot of the time and whilst they should also be considered separately, as long as a business has a USP then it will attract interest and go places, in conjunction with the marketing we do to highlight a strength that buyers find appealing.”

How does experience in the fire and security sector help to achieve the best possible deal for a client?

“It’s about knowing all the buyers and having the experience of how they operate,” said Matthew.

“Even when they have just made acquisitions and are in a period of integration, some acquirers are receptive to any appropriate opportunity and might say ‘yes, I want to pursue this, but we can’t right now’ or ‘no, I don’t want to pursue it at all’.

“You learn to know who will be interested in acquiring certain types of company and you will always have people you’ve never heard of trying to become the next thing in the industry.

“You build up a bank of knowledge of who likes what, how they operate and what to expect, so that you can advise your clients accordingly. For instance, there might be a disparity between the buyer and the client in terms of focus and detail on the KPIs of a company, which means they may not be the best match.”

There are also other important factors which influence how Matthew strives to facilitate the ideal outcome for the vendor of a fire and security company.

“Buyers these days are very keen on continuity as well as USPs,” he explained. “That used to mean that as long as you had people who could run the business when you’re not there on a day-to-day basis, that would be fine.

“Now, buyers are keen to keep the vendor in place for a transition period to join them on the journey of growing the company. That vision can also appeal to the vendor, to work an extra year or two to be a part of something even bigger and better.

“The average age of our clients is getting younger because people want extra resources and support to help them grow, so that people with young families, for instance, can at least split themselves more evenly rather than being too focused on one aspect of life.”

What’s a key piece of advice for someone preparing to sell their company?

“Buyers probably used to be more flexible, but nowadays they want a vendor to be direct in terms of whether they want to remain with the company post-sale, and if so, for how long and what they would be comfortable with doing,” said Matthew.

“They like sellers to almost have red lines, in a way – ‘this is what I want, this is what I’m prepared to accept’. That makes the decision easier for the buyer because they know whether it suits them or not.

“Sellers sometimes try to be amenable and flexible by saying ‘well, whatever you want’, but the buyer doesn’t want to hear that – they just want to be able to make a decision.”

If you are thinking about selling your fire and security company, or a business in any other sector, call us for a confidential, free, no-obligation discussion on 0161 258 0118.