Potter Electric Signal Company LLC of St. Louis acquired three mainstay product lines in the fire alarm industry: Harrington Fire Alarm, Evax Systems and CPG Signals.
According to a release by Potter, the acquisition, which finalized October 16, 2015, will not only strengthen Potter’s position as a leader in life safety products, but will also broaden the range of products and services available to customers in order to meet all their fire protection needs. By incorporating the technologies of these products, Potter will expand its fire system and voice product lines, providing customers even greater access to the markets they serve.
Peter Binkley, president of Evax Systems Inc. said, “Of all the offers to purchase Evax we’ve had over the years, Potter is the only company whose principles line up with our own. With Potter, we are excited at the opportunity for Evax to continue to thrive as a part of an independent company that values customer relations and quality product. Evax Systems will remain functionally intact as an operating unit and will continue to work with all of our partners to deliver audio for a wide array of applications.”
Dick Eisenlauer, president of Harrington Signal Inc. said, “We at Harrington Signal look forward to the benefits that this acquisition will offer our customers. The corporate values established in the early 1900s by both Charles Potter and Fred Harrington continue to this day. Potter has demonstrated standards such as providing an excellent work environment and focusing on outstanding customer service, leaving us certain that our customers will be in good hands.”
Potter expects the transition of buying products from Harrington Signal and Evax to be relatively seamless. The customer service staffs of Harrington Signal, Evax and Potter will be available to ensure that all new purchasing occurs without a glitch.
Dave Kosciuk, executive vice president of the fire/security division at Potter said, “The acquisition of Harrington Fire, Evax and CPG is exactly what Potter needed to fill in the gaps in our product line. We have been continuously updating and moving our product line up market, and this accommodates many of the requests from our dealer base as we add networking, smoke control, and low and high rise voice to our product portfolio. We look forward to bolstering the relationships that have already been established and making them a part of the Potter customer family. Being the only independent manufacturer with a full line of fire alarm and voice system solutions, Potter looks forward to strengthening our footprint in the life safety market and continuing to build on the successes we’ve had.”
Kosciuk said customers have asked Potter to move up market with technology. “It would have taken us years to do it organically, so this acquisition is exactly what we needed to offer our customers what they wanted without trying to reinvent something that already existed.”
The acquisition opens the door for Potter to gain access to a greater footprint in the life safety market and in verticals they already planned to enter, Kosciuk said. “It allows us to get into larger and more complex systems.”
Potter will keep Evax’ facility in Branford, Conn., and will keep the Harrington/CPG facility in Moline, Ill. Manufacturing of the latter two companies will move to St. Louis, and Kosciuk said they intend to keep customers from all three companies.
Evax management will be staying in place; however, Harrington and CPG will now fall under Potter Fire and Security. Potter brought on 20 employees between the two facilities.
Kosciuk said Potter is looking to continue expanding its product portfolio and will be looking for companies in line with its customers’ needs. When they find those types of companies, said Kosciuk, “We will aggressively go after them.”
