Assa Abloy's monopoly gets ever larger !


from wikipedia:
The Assa Abloy Group was formed in 1994 when ASSA AB was detached from Swedish security company Securitas AB. Shortly thereafter the Finnish high-security lock manufacturer Abloy Oy, a subsidiary of the Finnish company Wärtsilä, was acquired. The company was introduced to the Stockholm Stock Exchange later the same year.

• 1996 - The acquisition of Essex positioned Assa Abloy in the U.S. electronic security market
• 1999 - The acquisition of Effeff Fritz Fuss in Germany enabled Assa Abloy to sell electromechanical locks to the German market. Assa Abloy acquires Fichet in France, manufacturer of high security locks.
• 2000 – The global lock group Yale Intruder Security is acquired. Assa Abloy acquires HID, a proximity identification access controls company. The acquisition added electronic identification to the Assa Abloy’s product portfolio.
• 2001 – Assa Abloy participates in Volvo Ocean Race.
• 2002 – Finish at second in the Volvo Ocean Race. Besam, a Swedish automatic door solutions company is acquired.
• 2003 - Carl-Henric Svanberg leaves his position as President and CEO of Assa Abloy for a position as President and CEO of telecommunications company Ericsson and is replaced by Bo Dankis.
• 2005 - Bo Dankis leaves his position as President and CEO of Assa Abloy and is replaced by Johan Molin, previous president of the industrial group Nilfisk-Advance Nilfisk.
• 2006 - Fargo Electronics is acquired. Fargo develops systems for safe issuing of ID cards, including card printers, peripheral equipment and software.
• 2007 - Baodean manufacturer of high-security locks in China and iRevo, supplier of digital door locks in Korea are acquired. In 2007, in total, seventeen companies joined the Group.
• 2008 – In total Assa Abloy acquired 18 companies, for example ShenFei in China.
• 2009 - Italian door automation manufacturer, Ditec, is acquired.
• 2010 - A minority share of German/Swiss door company Reckord is acquired
• 2011 - Crawford and Flexiforce are acquired.
• 2012 - Two of the three Ditec plants in Italy are undergoing "restructuring" as part of a restructuring program within ASSA ABLOY’s Entrance Systems division. The rest of the Ditec business in Italy is dismissing operations. More than 100 employees are going to be fired and are on strike.

A selection of brands owned by Assa Abloy

• Finnish
  • Abloy
    • Abloy Exec
    • Abloy Protec
• American
  • Arrow Lock and Door Hardware
  • Ceco
  • Corbin Russwin
  • Curries
  • Dominion Building Products
  • Emtek
  • Fargo Electronics
  • Flemming
  • Folger Adam
  • Graham
  • Hes
  • HID
  • Maiman
  • Medeco
  • McKinney
  • Norton
  • Pemko
  • Rixson
  • Rockwood Manufacturing
  • Sargent
  • Securitron
  • Security Metal Products
  • TImelox
  • Interlock USA Inc.
  • Yale
• Australian
  • Lockwood
  • Whitco
  • Trimec
  • Padde
• British
  • Chubb
  • Union
  • Traka
• Czech
  • FAB
• Danish
  • Ruko A/S
  • Besam
• Dutch
  • Nemef
  • LIPS
• French
  • Fichet
  • JPM
  • Laperche
  • Vachette
• German
  • Ikon
  • Keso
  • Effeff
• Israeli
  • Mul-T-Lock
• Norwegian
  • TrioVing
  • VingCard
  • Elsafe
• Romanian
  • Urbis
• Swedish
  • ASSA
  • Besam
• Spanish
  • Azbe
  • Tesa

With the acquisition of 4Front on 27 December last year (more of which anon), Assa Abloy has now acquired 100 companies since Johan Molin joined the group as president and CEO in 2005.

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By Brian Sims

Despite two major recessions, the Assa Abloy Group has experienced impressive growth since the beginning of 2005. Sales have increased by 84% from SEK 25 billion to SEK 46 billion (rolling 12 months per September 2012).
During the same period, Assa Abloy's operating income (EBIT*) has doubled from SEK 3.7 billion to SEK 7.4 billion and earnings per share* have increased by 114% from SEK 6.32 to SEK 13.53.
"The strategic growth target for Assa Abloy is to grow 10% on an annual basis through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions," explained Molin.
"We have a focused acquisition strategy in three directions: gaining access to new geographic markets, adding new and complementary products to our portfolio and obtaining cutting-edge technologies in various key fields," said Molin.
"The foundation for Assa Abloy's rapid acquisitions expansion has been the group's ability to identify and build good relationships with potential acquisitions, effectively acquire them and successfully integrate them fast into the group. What's even more exciting is that virtually all acquisitions have developed very well and contributed significantly to the profitability of the Assa Abloy Group."
Continuing the theme, Molin explained: "Assa Abloy completed another 11 acquisitions during the first nine months 2012, adding SEK 3.45 billion (8.3%) to our total sales. In 2011, 18 acquisitions added 17% to total sales. Looking ahead, Assa Abloy will continue to implement its strategy of proactive acquisitions across all three strategic directions, and geographically speaking primarily in the emerging markets in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South America. These markets already account for 25% of the Assa Abloy Group's total sales and are expected to approach 50% by 2025."
Since its formation in 1994, Assa Abloy has grown from a regional company into an international group with some 44,000 employees and sales of more than SEK 46 billion. The Group operates in more than 60 countries and organises sales all over the world.
All figures for 2012 relate to the 12 months rolling per 30 September 2012
*Excluding items affecting comparability

About the acquisition of 4Front

Assa Abloy has acquired the US company 4Front, a leader in docking systems. 4Front offers a complete product range around docking systems as well as a large variety of accessories.
Johan Molin stated: "With its leading brands, 4Front is yet another strategic entry to the important North American market in entrance automation. I welcome this addition that further reinforces the Assa Abloy Group's leadership in entrance automation, growing from SEK 3 billion in 2008 to more than SEK 12 billion pro forma in 2012."