DENVER - Red Hawk Industries says acquisitions and organic growth are helping it gain share in the security market.
Red Hawk, which sells such products as safes and cameras for automated teller machines and pneumatic tubes for drive-up teller windows, has bought 11 companies since its founding four years ago. They include Webster Safe and Lock Co., a Memphis company founded in 1886; Korden Inc., Ontario, Calif.; and Hamilton Safe of California, also in Ontario.
It keeps them fairly autonomous and is retaining their brands, at least for now.
"To change the name would throw away some of that goodwill that we purchased," said David D. Charles, Red Hawk's chief executive officer. In time, however, he plans to rename the acquired outfits Red Hawk, though they would continue to do most of their own decision-making.
"We're fairly decentralized, because we think it serves the customer best," Mr. Charles said. Employees who know their markets and customers should not have "interference from a bunch of guys in the home office who don't know what's going on," he said.
Mr. Charles said Red Hawk has been buying up companies because of the barriers to entry in the security market, but he added that it has been growing organically by about 18% a year. The privately held company will have revenues of $100 million this year, against $75 million in 2002 and $10 million in 1999, he said.
Red Hawk's chief competitor, Diebold Inc. of North Canton, Ohio, said the security market has been flourishing, especially since 9/11, so there is room for all.
Vince Lupe, the manager of Diebold's integration engineering department, said his company's security offerings are more comprehensive than those of its competitors. Among his department's products and services are intrusion detection, alarms, verification, event monitoring, and access control.
In October 2001 Diebold bought most of the assets of Mosler Inc., a bankrupt security firm. The deal gave Diebold a strong toehold in the government space.
