There’s a new international company in the security market this week with the acquisition of Siemens’ Security Products business in Europe by Vanderbilt Industries, a new U.S. company that rebranded the Schlage Security Management Systems (SMS) product line after acquiring it from Ingersoll Rand in August 2012.
The European arm of the new global player will be called Vanderbilt International, based out of Germany and led by Managing Director Joseph Grillo, who many remember from his days at HID and later ASSA ABLOY.
The newest acquisition suggests plenty of interesting opportunities, and some questions. An immediate European and global footprint is great, but how might the newly acquired parts of this growing company work together to form a cohesive whole? While separate operations on either side of the Atlantic are nicely complementary from a market share perspective, is it enough for the two businesses just to coexist? To coalesce strategically as a company, don’t they also need to reinforce each other?