Security group Fidelity announced on Thursday that it has finalised its acquisition of competitor ADT, with the new firm to be named Fidelity ADT. This was after the Competition Tribunal provided regulatory approval on March 8, according to Fidelity.
This represented the first foreign sale of security ownership since the proposed bill that security companies in SA have at least 51% ownership, which has parliamentary clearance but is still, as yet, unsigned. ADT, which was owned by New York-listed Tyco, was one of the big four multi-national security firms in SA, the others being Chubb, Securitas and G4S.
Fidelity CEO Wahl Bartmann said the merger "brings together two strong teams with deep industry knowledge and experience". This should allow Fidelity ADT to become "the leading provider of both residential and commercial and integrated security solutions in southern Africa", Bartmann said.
Fidelity said the merger would allow it to increase the scope of its services. Fidelity traditionally specialised in guarding and cash security, while ADT covered residential armed response and security technology; the merger allows the firms to integrate their services.
The announcement comes the same week as Fidelity’s 60th birthday. The merger makes Fidelity ADT as a "100% South African, 54.62% black-owned company and a level one B-BBEE contributor", with about 57,000 employees. Fidelity said the goal for customers is to use the combination of services to not merely respond to crime, but to actively prevent it.
Bartmann said the public could expect dual branding and that the management team would oversee the integration, with the branding process to be completed within 60 days.
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