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tise. We have completed several
of them. The last one, Black &
Decker, was a complete success.
However, there are several key fac-
tors to learn. It is important that
there is clarity in terms of leader-
ship. Niscayah has been a much
decentralised company while at
Stanley, we have many centralised
processes. One of the challenges as
president for this organisation was
to make sure there was a match
between these big cultural differ-
ences. We had a very intense first
period with integration meetings.
The ideas and the objectives are
very clear. There are no compro-
mises in terms of where we need
to go."
Why is standardisation of busi-
ness offerings so important?
"The product portfolio must be
similar in every country; otherwise
biggest surprise so far is that there
have been no surprises. Stanley
Black & Decker and Niscayah
complement each other very well
in terms of segments. Niscayah
have a very good level of expertise
in high level verticals like banking
and distribution while Stanley in
France and the UK have very good
value propositions for small and
medium enterprises and retail.
The objective now is to make all
this available in different countries
and try to pick the best of each
country in terms of value proposi-
tions and processes and make it
available for everybody. For us,
everything we do starts and ends
with customer satisfaction."
What is most important when
integrating a company?
"For us, integrating a company is
one of our key fields of exper-
constitutes for about 30 per cent
of the total sales.
"We started with a 100 million
dollar business a few years ago.
Through acquisitions we today
have a 3.2 billion dollar security
division with global presence. It
is a nice growth story", says Mas-
simo Grassi.
"We have a nice track record
in developing our presence. The
other aspect is diversifying by
going from just tools, moving to
other platforms for growth and
particularly security."
You joined the company in 2007
and in September last year you
took on the role of President for
security solutions in Europe.
"Yes. I am a builder and I like to
build things. That is why I think
this opportunity with Niscayah is
an extraordinary opportunity; to
really build a pan European leader
in security. We want to leverage
Niscayah presence in all countries
in Europe. The Niscayah expertise
together with the added value we
have at Stanley, this was a compel-
ling acquisition for us."
How is the integration going?
"The integration is going as well as
it could. We are very satisfied. The
Stanley Black & Decker acquired
Niscayah in September 2011. A
few months earlier, Securitas made
a bid for Niscayah. The payment
was in Securitas shares and when
the banks and stock markets began
to sway shares fell and suddenly
the Securitas bid was not worth as
much anymore. Stanley Black &
Decker made a significantly higher
bid than Securitas and Niscayah
became part of the American
company.
By starting to look at customer
needs in the larger geography and
combine customers with similar
needs across major markets, the
company now wants to develop,
sell and deliver new offerings.
Niscayah will work more with
standardisation, become more cen-
tralised and develop offerings for
small and medium-sized customers.
On September 12, one year
after the acquisition, Niscayah
will change the brand name to
Stanley Security Solutions. The
new brand will be introduced in
all 14 countries around Europe.
According to Massimo Grassi,
Niscayah has a good image in the
European security market place,
while the Stanley brand is not so
well known yet. He says: "Glob-
ally Stanley is perceived as a good,
reliable company while Niscayah
is perceived as a very technically
skilled company. Our task is to
merge the attributes of the brands
and give a unique value proposi-
tion to our customers."
In 2007, the Stanley Black
& Decker turnover was 4 billion
dollars. Today it is more than 11.5
billion. The company has three
divisions: Construction and DIY,
Industrial and Security. Security
the interview
"We started with a
100 million dol-
lar business a few
years ago. Through
acquisitions we
today have a 3.2
billion dollar secu-
rity division with
global presence."
StanleyBlack&Decker'sEuropeanPresidentforsecurity,MassimoGrassi:
"Niscayah was an ideal acquisition"
Stanley Black & decker today has a 3.2 billion dollar
security division with global presence. The last year's
1.2 billion dollar acquisition of Niscayah has added
business in high level security verticals like banking.
detektor met up with Stanley Black & decker's euro-
pean President for security, Massimo Grassi, to discuss
the integration.
"Niscayah has been a dream for us for a long time.
It was an ideal acquisition for us to become a pan
european player", he says.
By Henrik Söderlund
Stanley Black & Decker's
European President for
security, Massimo Grassi.