In a move that looks to strengthen its integrated security product portfolio to its customer base and advance its innovative offerings on the smart home market, Nortek Security & Control LLC (NSC) and Core Brands LLC (Core Brands) has announced a strategic merger that combines the two industry leaders’ innovation and resources with a suite of connected solutions and business programs that create meaningful opportunities for dealers and distributors.
The combined company, now operating as NSC, is headed by President Mike O’Neal and remains dedicated to developing and manufacturing the control, security, access, entertainment, and personal digital health solutions that make the connected home and business a practical reality for more homeowners and business operators than ever before. Anchored by the 2GIG® security and ELAN® control platforms, the new NSC is able to offer partners an expanded range of increasingly integrated solutions to meet the needs of their customers.
"First and foremost, it will help us to better serve our customers with a greater variety of integrated product solutions. Our product team is already working on solutions that bring the ELAN home control platform and 2GIG closer together, creating opportunities in both the security and residential smart home markets," said NSC President Mike O’Neal. “The combination of NSC and Core Brands helps us serve our customers with an unparalleled suite of solutions for the residential and commercial control, security, entertainment, access and personal wellness markets. Joe Roberts and I share a strong commitment to our customers, which will guide the innovation we develop into our products, services and programs.”
Both Core Brands and Nortek Security & Control (then known as Linear) were part of the Providence, RI Nortek, which sold in 2016 to Melrose. In Core Brands’ case, the company began as the 2012 merger of four separate Nortek companies, mostly working in the custom installation market. It later added the Gefen AV distribution brand, which works mainly in the commercial market. Linear was focused on the access and security markets; with the 2GIG acquisition, the group grew rapidly in the security space and with the Numera acquisition, it also entered the personal health technology sector. O'Neal stressed that with the organization now under Melrose, the time was right for the merger.
"Although we just announced the merger, we’ve been working on it for months. We already shared many back-end systems and fully integrated we are able to leverage these economies even more. As former sister companies, we have the same customer-centric culture, which reduces barriers to successful integration. On the product side, we can not only avoid redundant efforts but can think more globally about the solutions we provide," added O'Neal.
Core Brands President Joe Roberts now assumes responsibility for driving product vision across the new NSC company as Executive Vice President of Marketing & Innovation. “The market is demanding a broader range of solutions that work better together across product categories, and this is a major focus of our innovation,” he said. “In particular, our 2GIG® and ELAN® integration create opportunities that perfectly address the connected smart home market and the evolving needs of our customers.”
O'Neal also stated that their leadership team of the combined company has evolved to suit its new opportunities, with a good balance of industry veterans from within the company and from outside to lead the business.
"We are developing product integrations that would have been much more difficult if we remained separate companies. While we still serve multiple channels, these channels will continue to merge together, for example, security dealers installing more control, automation and AV products, and the residential integrators installing more security solutions. We are absolutely leveraging our strengths in these markets to expand our dealers’ and distributors’ opportunities. Additionally, we expect to enhance our industry partnerships by having a complete offering," said O'Neal, stressing that this merger will be good for dealers and their customers. "Again, it enables us to deliver solutions that expand the opportunities for our customers. The leadership teams at both companies were incredibly customer-focused, and as the new Nortek Security & Control, this focus will remain our guiding compass.
The company will highlight its latest connected smart home, security, and personal wellness solutions at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, Booth 40921 in the Sands Expo Center.
About Core Brands
Anchored by the ELAN® Smart Home Control Platform, Core Brands combines the strengths of its iconic control, audio, power management, connectivity and video distribution brands – ELAN, SpeakerCraft®, Gefen®, Niles®, Panamax®, Proficient®, Furman®, Sunfire® and Xantech® – to deliver a portfolio of connected home and commercial solutions to its channel partners and end users. For further information, visit www.corebrands.com.
About Nortek Security & Control
Nortek Security & Control LLC (NSC) is a global leader in smart connected devices and systems for residential, security, access control, and digital health markets. NSC and its partners have deployed more than 4 million connected systems and over 20 million security and home control sensors and peripherals. Through its family of brands including 2GIG®, GoControl®, Linear®, Mighty Mule® and Numera®, NSC designs solutions for national telecoms, big box retailers, OEM partners, service providers, security dealers and consumers.
Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, NSC is a subsidiary of Melrose Industries PLC, a global investment company specializing in acquisition and performance improvement. With over 50 years of innovation, NSC is dedicated to addressing the lifestyle and business needs of millions of customers every day. For further information, visit https://nortekcontrol.com/
