Tyco's Sonitrol Is Sold to Spire, Carlyle, and Wachovia for $125.5 Million; Kevin Dowd Named Chairman and CEO of Sonitrol

Alexandria, VA – Sonitrol, Inc., a leading commercial security provider in North America, announced today that its parent company, Tyco International, Ltd., has sold Sonitrol to a group of private investors: Spire Capital Partners, L.P., Carlyle Venture Partners, and Wachovia Capital Partners for $125.5 million. Concurrent with the transaction, Kevin P. Dowd, was named Chairman and CEO of Sonitrol, succeeding Chris Cobb, who will remain with Tyco’s ADT division.

Mr. Dowd said, “Sonitrol is the leading national provider of verified alarm monitoring for commercial customers. The company has a distinguished track record, a dedicated team of employees, and a terrific group of franchisees. We look forward to leveraging the financial and strategic resources of Spire, Carlyle, and Wachovia, to build on these existing assets and foster an exciting period of growth and value creation. The Sonitrol management team is renewed and the staff are excited about the future.”

On behalf of the investing group, Bruce Hernandez, Managing Partner of Spire Capital, said, “We are pleased to welcome Kevin to Sonitrol and look forward to working with him and his world class management team. Kevin is uniquely qualified to build upon the existing strengths of the Sonitrol organization. By investing to expand and improve Sonitrol’s proven set of flagship audio detection products, this business is well positioned to grow.”

Sonitrol has a network of 170 franchises serving 180 cities in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Since 1977, Sonitrol has assisted local police with more than 150,000 documented apprehensions in the U.S. and abroad. Sonitrol’s flagship audio detection technology allows companies to monitor the sounds made during a tripped alarm without alerting the intruder, which leads to the highest criminal apprehension rates in the industry. Additionally, in an era when an increasing number of municipalities is overwhelmed responding to erroneous alarms, Sonitrol’s low false alarm rate is a compelling value proposition.

Kevin P. Dowd, 55, comes to Sonitrol with 34 years of marketing and management experience. From 1988 to 2001 he served in several senior positions, most recently as President and CEO, at Checkpoint Systems, Inc., a multinational marketer and manufacturer of labeling solutions. Under his leadership, Checkpoint’s revenue grew from $40 million to $700 million and the company became listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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