Pelco Has New Ownership

• By Ralph C. Jensen
• May 29, 2019

Transom Capital Group (Transom), today announced it has acquired Pelco Inc. (Pelco), from Schneider Electric. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pelco designs, develops, and manufactures predictive video security solutions including cameras, recording and management systems, software and services. Pelco’s personal engagement with customers, resellers and technology partners drives the development and deployment of surveillance and security solutions with meaningful innovation.

“As most security industry experts know, Pelco is one of the pioneers of the video surveillance space,” said Russ Roenick, managing partner at Transcom. “The journey toward creating the next great breakthroughs in video security begins today through our investment in Pelco. We have conviction that the work done over the past several years to transform the company into a digitally-savvy company with innovative hardware, software and service solutions is nearly complete. We are excited to partner with management to grow the business for many years to come.”

Jean-Marc Theolier, CEO, Pelco Inc., said “As we surveyed the landscape of potential partners, our primary goal was to commit with a company who appreciated Pelco’s legacy, as well as supported our current business strategy and growth plan. Transom strongly believes in our unique value proposition to be an end-to-end solutions provider, and has encouraged us to continue doing what we do best. We are excited to work with Transom, and to develop new and innovative solutions to best serve our business partners.”

Schneider Electric paid $1.5 billion for Pelco in 2007. Over the past few years, the valuation had dropped significantly, though terms of the sale were not released.

Transom markets itself as improving operations of companies they acquire. For instance, company officials say they have developed a systematic approach to value creation known as the ARMOR℠ Value Creation Process, which is an acronym that stands for Acquisition, Restructuring, Monitoring & Operations and Return.

“ARMOR is our playbook and is a collection of real-world proven methods for each stage of the investment timeline to create performance driven cultures, create and improve strategy, drive topline growth, decrease waste, improve operations, customer service and product quality, source talent, tighten budgeting and lead companies and their executive teams to new heights, company officials said.”

Their portfolio includes a pen manufacturer, a sporting goods manufacturer, a helmet manufacturer, etc. which has raised concerns about Pelco's fit. However, Transom also owns technology companies, such as Mackie, a loudspeaker manufacturer, Critigen, a geospatial services provider, and Heath-Zenith, a lighting and doorbell manufacturer.

According to IPVM blogger John Honovich, Pelco is now independent. While Transom owns Pelco, Pelco will be run independently.

Pelco's CEO told IPVM that Pelco's strategy remains the same, emphasizing the long term goal of being a "leader in predictive video analytics solution" as they expand their VMS, cloud and AI offerings. The company also said that they remain committed to being an end-to-end provider, including manufacturing cameras (not made in China).

Theolier said he is committed to staying with Pelco, which was a question considering that he comes from long tenures at Schnieder Electric. More employees were laid off from Pelco last week as the deal closed. While Theolier declined to address specific reasons or headcount numbers, he noted differences going from a sizeable corporation to a standalone company, and the positions needed therein.