According to a report published last week by the Wall Street Journal, Blackstone Group, the investment firm that own Vivint, is gearing up for an initial public offering or outright sell of the company.
Blackstone, which initially acquired the smart home company for more than $2 billion in 2012, recently invited investment banks to pitch for a "dual-track process," the newspaper reported, which could lead to one of the two aforementioned options. Those familiar with the matter told the newspaper that a deal could value Vivint at more than $3 billion, or $6 billion, including debt.
Utah-based Vivint, has completely transformed itself from its origins as APX Alarm and has grown to become one of the leaders in the connected home technology market. The company has been on the leading-edge of the transition the industry has undergone in recent years from simply providing fire and burglar alarms to offering whole home automation solutions driven by the proliferation of mobile devices.
The company initially rebranded as Vivint in early 2011 and sought to redefine itself shortly thereafter as a provider of home technology services rather than just an installer of security systems. It even launched a solar energy panel installation business dubbed "Vivint Solar" later that same year which further differentiated the company from some of its traditional competitors in the residential and light commercial security space.
The company was recently ranked by Strategy Analytics, Inc., as the second largest provider of interactive security services in the U.S., behind only ADT.
