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Should you be using a broker to sell your alarm business?
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Ken,
I noticed in your Mergers and Acquisitions section in The Alarm Exchange, a few of the sellers mentioned "No Brokers Please" at the end of their posting.
I am a Broker and have been so for years. Our firm, Davis Mergers and Acquisitions Group has been in this industry for over 40 years. We've all been involved in alarm companies, Central Stations and know this industry inside and out. More importantly, we know practically every reputable buyer out there. We are confident that by using a Broker, a seller will be able to get a much better all around deal than on their own. There's much to negotiate. We learn what the seller's needs are and then work to achieve those and much more. We negotiate price, how it's paid, tax implications, the seller's future, their employees futures, inventory, vehicles and any other hard assets, the Purchase Agreement, and much more. The seller has a business to run and will not be able to take the necessary time and effort to find the right buyers and negotiate every detail to their advantage. They're doing this for the first time. We've done it hundreds of times. We handle everything including getting more money in your pocket than what a seller can do on his/her own.
Very few people sell their buildings on their own these days. This is very much like a real estate transaction.
So the message is, it may be better to eliminate the "No Broker Please" post to see what the professionals can do for you. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Steve Rubin
Davis Mergers and Acquisitions Group, Inc.
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Response
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I agree that a business broker well entrenched in the alarm business may make a significant difference in selling an alarm business or subscriber accounts. Sellers and buyers try and go it alone - without a broker, without a lawyer, without a clue - sometimes. The brokers listed in The Alarm Exchange are all well qualified in the alarm business. The few posts in The Alarm Exchange that request no brokers are also knowledgeable in selling their alarm business. My advice for selling or buying - get a lawyer who knows this industry on board from the moment you consider a transaction. [my number is below]. Sellers or buyers should also enlist a broker from The Alarm Exchange. You can set the parameters of the transaction and give the broker the goal you expect.
Having said that, The Alarm Exchange is a great way to reach out to the alarm industry and if you want to post a listing that includes "no brokers" that's fine. I'll have to think about a post that says "no lawyers".
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still more on Tucson and AZ
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Ken
Regarding the August 24 2013 Newsletter which had an error in the date, 2103, was the Tucson matter a projection of what to expect 90 years from now? Which would be about the same as the last 90 years. "The false alarm problem".... who is responsible for the disposition of alarm signals from the alarm site that are unknown and do not represent 911 type emergencies?
Lee Jones;
Support Services Group
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Ken, Subject: no ROC license required?
Subject: MCCOMISH FLOOR AMENDMENT SENATE AMENDMENTS TO H.B. 2176
32-1121. Persons not required to be licensed;
17. ALARM AGENTS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 32-101.
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/51leg/1r/adopted/2176mccomish1025.doc.htm
After HB 2185 was held last year, the Arizona Alarm Association performed a back door move. They had H.B. 2176, an ROC Bill, amended on the Senate Floor. This too place after H.B. 2176 had already passed the entire house and the Senate Committee. Our association, the Arizona Alarm Dealers Association, was not informed of this because the AzAA did not want opposition.
Result: For $130 you can obtain a 2 year alarm agent license and no longer be required to be licensed by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. No job experience required, no testing, no bonding, just a pulse and the ability to pass a back ground check. This exemption does not limit alarm agents to alarms. It is wide open to allow for electrical switches and thermostats being contracted in connection with home automation.
The ROC provides testing, job experience, a recovery fund, and requires company be bonded, the BTR does not. This is a huge blow to the ROC. There is no limitations in regards to who can receive an alarm business license and then license alarm agents. The only requirement is that the person has a clean criminal record. Having a hard time getting an ROC License? Don't worry, for about the tenth of the cost, you can become a licensed alarm agent and do all the contracting you want.
Why was this done? Many companies now buy contracts from Authorized Dealers to avoid liability from installation, having to pay FICA taxes, and to avoid upcoming healthcare costs. The ROC License was too difficult for most Authorized Dealers to meet the standards. Companies using Authorized Dealers, reduced their risk of hiring a thief, by requiring State background checks, but wanted to remove the hurdles previously in place to be licensed. Quality was not an issue, only reducing cost, less liability and easing of requirements to license Authorized Dealers.
Roger D. Score
President and Lobbyist, Arizona Alarm Dealers Association, Inc. (Non Profit)
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Ken - Subject: Important info for Arizona Contractors
It has come to our attention, based on the recent opinion offered by the Arizona Attorney General, many are pushing for licensed ROC Contractors to hurry up and submit to the Board's licensing. To read the opinion, in part and disregard the Conclusion, is to ignore the most important part. It should also be noted that the ROC does not recognize alarm agents. ROC licensed contractors use contractors, not alarm agents. Alarm agents are those who are licensed under the Board only. In fact, I do not own an "Alarm Business." I am a Lo-Voltage Contractor and am so licensed to Contract all Lo-Voltage jobs requiring a Licensed Contractor.
Arizona Attorney General's
Conclusion!
Alarm businesses must be licensed by either the Registrar or the Board. Where alarm businesses are certified by the Board, they are subject to requirements of the alarm legislation and the Board's other statutes. If an alarm business is licensed only through the Registrar, the Board has no authority to require that alarm business to take any action. Alarm agents are certified by the Board and are also subject to the requirements of the alarm legislation and the Board's other statutes.
Thomas C. Horne
Attorney General
Thank you,
Roger D. Score
President, Arizona Alarm Dealers Association.
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