ASSA ABLOY changing the security market through acquisitions

ASSA ABLOY has seen amazing growth since its start in 1994. A key element of its rapid expansion has always been identifying and building up relationships with potential acquisitions, successfully acquiring them, and equally successfully integrating them into the Group. The company has now made over 150 acquisitions.

The company’s journey can also be described as one from mechanical locks to complete door opening solutions that meet end-users’ increasing demands for personal and physical security as well as user friendliness. ASSA ABLOY is the single largest player on the market today and is spearheading the trend toward greater security on four continents.

ASSA ABLOY aim to continue its proactive acquisition strategy. The market is continuing to grow rapidly due to the new security challenges that society, companies and individuals face in various parts of the world, as well as the opportunities presented by new technology. The security market still consists largely of smaller companies and brands that are strong on their local markets. This means big opportunities for an expansive global company with the dynamism to adopt new ways of thinking, new technology and efficient production along with new knowledge on the special conditions of local markets.

ASSA ABLOYs position as market leader gives the company an advantage over its competitors in the ability to identify new customer needs and the resources to develop new solutions, establish standards, educate the market and create the demand that will give us quick, profitable growth.

ASSA ABLOY conducts acquisitions for one of three purposes:
• To add geographic markets; in recent years growth markets in Asia have been a strong focus
• To obtain complementary products in order to offer our customers complete door solutions on established markets
• To gain access to cutting-edge technologies in specific key fields, such as identification technology

The companies we acquire are integrated into the Group based on their specific conditions. This lets them provide added value to our customers worldwide through increasingly complete solutions to meet ever-growing security challenges.

The many acquisitions have also fundamentally changed ASSA ABLOY the company. Through our constant search for new customer needs, new opportunities from technology, new markets and cultures, and above all new people with new ideas, we have been able to develop an extremely empowering culture and a great openness to the companies and people our acquisitions bring into the Group. Perhaps the relative youth of the ASSA ABLOY Group is one of the reasons we haven’t put down roots and are still focused on change and development. And perhaps our open-mindedness is most clearly shown in the fact that many of the people in our corporate management today came into the company through acquisitions.

See the ASSA ABLOY historical timeline.