SIA New Member Profile: Davis Mergers & Acquisitions Group

Davis Mergers & Acquisitions image and Ron Davis photo

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member the Davis Mergers & Acquisitions Group, founded in 1973 by Ron Davis is a premier mergers and acquisitions (M&A) company representing the sellers of alarm companies. The company has developed a select team of security industry mergers experts experienced in all aspects of manufacturing, marketing, sales and strategic development and has worked with hundreds of security companies. The Davis Group is headquartered in Long Grove, Illinois, and has clients throughout North America.

SIA spoke with Katie Maahs Bally, vice president of marketing at the Davis Group, about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings/company unique?

KMB: We work exclusively with the sellers of electronic security companies and integrators. Our goal is to maximize the results of the M&A process, helping them to achieve the highest value for their businesses.

What’s something we might not know about your company – or something new you’re doing in security?

KMB: Ron Davis and his management team decided to sell Security Associates (which had evolved into a third-party monitoring station from a dealer program), and he became a broker. My husband, Don, and I had owned a security company in a suburb of Chicago, and we felt the time was right to sell it, so we talked to Ron and became his first client! Within a relatively short time, he found two buyers for our company. Eventually, we picked the company that we thought would be the best fit for our customers, our employees and ourselves. Plus, we wanted to make sure that all the money that had been promised to us would indeed be paid! We made the right choice – not only in picking Ron to represent us, but also for the buyer. Don still works for that company in sales and loves what he is doing! After the sale, I started to work for Ron, and I have been doing so since 2002.

What is your company’s vision, and what are your goals for the security industry?

KMB: With so many companies in the security industry being owned by people in their 60s and 70s, we recognize that there are literally thousands of owners looking for an exit strategy that will maximize the value of their businesses. Our vision is to assist as many of those dealers to achieve their financial and personal goals as possible.

What are the biggest challenges facing your company and/or others in the security industry?

KMB: The short-term opportunities for dealers are to continue doing what they have been doing without being distracted by technological and economical challenges. That is also our short-term goal – to  continue what we have been doing by helping thousands of dealers who we have worked with. Our long-term goal is to possibly convert to being buyers ourselves.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

KMB: The industry, according to Ron, is going through a rapid state of change. Some would say a quantum change that definitely is affecting the value of companies. Our goal is to help as many dealers as possible to profitably exit the industry.

What are the biggest challenges facing your company and/or others in the security industry?

KMB: The pace of change has always been a challenge. Now it is becoming an overwhelming change in our business plan from just helping sellers, but now also helping sellers, buyers and financiers. Our vision of the industry is that the future is very bright.

What do you enjoy most about being at your company – and in the security industry?

KMB: It’s good to be at the top of our game. We work hard for it. We have invested immeasurable amounts of time and effort to achieve the position that we have and, frankly, we all relish the opportunity to continue doing what we have been doing. We have grown to be the leading industry broker. Ron Davis is a prolific author and has published two best-selling books, Greatest Ideas of the Industry’s Greatest Thinkers and The Start of the Deal, which is in its seventh printing, as well as his monthly columns for Security Sales & Integration.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

KMB: The opportunity for greater visibility and exposure to our vision, and to help dealers to exit the industry profitably.

How does your organization engage with SIA? what are your plans for involvement in the next year?

KMB: We plan on attending the SIA events at ISC West and finding out more about how we can become involved.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).