The first quarter results analysed in our monthly Executive Brief “The Physical Security Industry in 15 Minutes” showed that both consolidation and investment had slowed down significantly. In the first quarter of this year the number of acquisitions were 20% down on the same period of 2010 when Tyco made a $2 billion acquisition of Broadview Security. This was a disappointing start to 2011, but on Monday 11th April, Reuters broke the news that Schneider Electric was mulling the possibility of merging / acquiring Tyco International. This startling news opened up the possibility of realizing a $30billion deal, by far the biggest ever in this industry; having major implications particularly for the other leading suppliers in the distribution chain. Within days every analyst and pundit had reviewed the implications from all angles most commenting that this daring strategy could work but that it was risky. On April 21, Schneider quelled speculation that the company was […]