Combination creates leading provider of Emergency Response Solutions
TEMECULA, CALIF. and GATINEAU, CANADA - Golden Gate Capital, a $2.6 billion private equity firm, announced today the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire CML Emergency Services, an industry leader in emergency communications technology. Simultaneous with the acquisition, CML will be merged with Golden Gate Capital’s portfolio company, Plant Equipment, Inc., America’s leading provider of mission-critical communications systems to emergency response contact centers. The combined company will be the world’s leading vendor of emergency response management solutions, with an installed base comprising over two-thirds of the U.S. public safety market. The transaction is scheduled to close within 30 days. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“This merger consolidates the resources of the two most respected and successful companies in the public safety space,” said David Dominik, managing director of Golden Gate Capital. “Plant Equipment and CML have complementary technologies, product lines and distribution channels; in addition, the new company will possess the most experienced support, services, and engineering teams in the industry.”
Timothy Fuller, president and chief executive officer of Plant Equipment, will continue as chief executive officer following the merger. Steve Panyko, chief executive officer of CML, will serve as chief operating officer of the new company.
Fuller states, “The merger is highly compelling for our distributors, end customers and the industry as a whole. In the near term, we intend to build a stronger organization, offer a more comprehensive suite of products, and better serve our channel partners. Our longer term vision is to combine the best of breed technologies from both companies to build the industry’s next generation communications platform—an IP-based solution, unifying our leading Radio Dispatch, Advanced Call Processing and CAD product sets.”
“Customer satisfaction is, and will continue to be, our central focus,” said Steve Panyko, president and CEO of CML. “We are a partner in the success of the organizations we serve, which drives our technology development, support programs and, ultimately, profitability. That commitment to customers and channel partners is a central tenant of our new company, and our ability to deliver the goods is now greatly enhanced.”
The organizational structure of the new company will be announced in the coming weeks. CML and Plant product lines will continue to be sold and supported and existing agreements between each company, its customers, partners and service providers will be honored. “It’s very much business as usual for customers, partners and others who have dealings with CML and Plant,” Dominik said.
About Golden Gate Capital:
Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with approximately $2.6 billion of capital under management. The firm is dedicated to partnering with world-class management teams to invest in change-intensive, growth businesses. Golden Gate targets investments in situations where there is a demonstrable opportunity to significantly enhance a company’s value. The principals of Golden Gate Capital have a long and successful history of investing with management partners across a wide rage of industries and transaction types. For more information, please visit www.goldengatecap.com.
About Plant Equipment:
Established in 1968, Plant is a major solutions supplier for public and private communications providers including: Motorola, Qwest, SBC, Sprint and Verizon. Plant products include advanced call processing solutions, conventional key telephone systems, mapping/GIS/CAD/RMS, management information systems, digital logging/recording systems and comprehensive professional services. Plant is a Nortel Developer Partner, an ESRI Business Partner, an HP Development Solutions Partner and a Microsoft© Certified Partner. For more information, please visit www.peinc.com.
About CML Emergency Services:
Established in 1980, CML delivers intelligent communications management and response systems for the Public Safety and Private Security industries. These systems—9-1-1 in North America, 112 in Europe and 999 in the UK—include communications routing, switching and call management hardware and software, as well as radio communication consoles. CML systems dynamically provide all takers with mission-critical information from incoming wire line and wireless (cell phone) calls, to facilitate faster, more informed responses to unforeseen events. More than 1,200 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) sites across North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean have selected CML to optimize communications management and incident response, and associated human and capital resources. For more information please visit www.cml.com.