With a surprising number of “cash rich” competitors said to be waiting in the wings, the market could be set for a prolonged period of consolidation.
David Pattison, author of the new Plimsoll Industry Analysis: Manned Security, explainED: “I’m sure any director worth his salt would agree that, in the current climate, there are simply too many companies chasing too little work. With many directors eyeing the exit doors and highly leveraged buy-outs consigned to history for the time being, it really is a buyers’ market out there for cash rich companies”.
Pattison continued: “In the Plimsoll Industry Analysis we have identified 16 companies that have a sizeable cash reserve sat on their balance sheets that, due to record low interest rates, is generating nothing. One company has a GB pound 1973 million cash pot; a whopping 80% of turnover. These companies are now in the position to buy up large chunks of market share at rock bottom prices and make that money work for them. They must be like kids in a sweet shop at the moment – all those distressed competitors available at a fraction of their true value”.
35 companies ripe for takeover
The security guarding market is still widely regarded as one of the UK’s most fragmented sectors. “In our report,” explained Pattison, “we analysed 192 companies with a turnover of over GB pound 1 million per annum and have picked out 35 that are primed to be taken over. Buying one of these businesses represents a massive opportunity for someone to enhance their share of the market. Either way, the market is set for a wave of takeovers in the next few months”.
The new Plimsoll Industry Analysis: Manned Security will tell you which companies are set to be buying and who will be selling.
Readers of Security Management Today (SMT) Online are entitled to a GB pound 50 discount of this new special edition. Call 01642 626400 for further details and quote reference PR/SV51
