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Analyst says deal could be a precursor to more industry partnerships, M
DirecTV's acquisition of LifeShield a sign of things to come?
Earlier this week, satellite television firm DirecTV entered the residential security market with its acquisition of LifeShield Home Security. Based in Langhorne, Pa., LifeShield provides wireless home security solutions and monitoring services to more than 20,000 customers in every major metropolitan market across the U.S. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
According to Brad Bentley, senior vice president of revenue strategy and planning for DirecTV, the home security market was attractive to the company for several reasons.
"From a home security perspective, it's a high margin, low-churn and a really low-penetrated business," Bentley said. "We also looked at it as a natural extension of the DirecTV product offering. We do have a national footprint of technicians, consultants, as well as dealers, so we're in homes everyday and looking to provide additional value. That, coupled with our expertise in delivering an exceptional video experience, we felt we had an opportunity to bring home security in that product offering."
Although the company looked at a couple of different options, Bentley said LifeShield seemed to be a "perfect fit," as they offer a completely digital, wireless and easy to install solution. Bentley said DirecTV's plans for LifeShield moving forward are two-fold.
"We plan to retain the brand LifeShield, that they continue to sell do-it-yourself home security products, which is at the core of who and what they are today, and by extension we would create a DirecTV affiliated brand that we would offer to our 20 million subscribers as part of an upgrade opportunity, as well as to the three-and-a-half to four million new customers we bring on each year," he explained.
In addition, Bentley said that LifeShield's management team, including its founder and CEO, will be retained by the company.
"We believe we have an edge from a home security standpoint because we have a premium brand. We have a tremendous sales and marketing engine and that, coupled with our leadership in technology and innovation, we think we can create a truly differentiated experience," Bentley said.
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