CertaSite announced today that it has acquired ABC Fire Extinguisher Co., a family-owned business with a strong legacy of service in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

CertaSite is a new commercial fire protection and life safety company that strives to go beyond compliance, focusing on partnerships and professionalism while providing customers a simplified and dependable solution to managing all of the fire protection and life safety systems in commercial buildings.

CertaSite is led by CEO Jeff Wyatt, who has more than 30 years of experience in the fire protection and life safety industry. He most recently served as president of Koorsen Fire & Security. He started his career in the profession as an installation technician, and is a veteran of the United States Navy. Wyatt was recruited to lead CertaSite by The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm that is CertaSite’s primary investor.

ABC Fire Extinguisher was founded in 1977. Its strong reputation will allow it to grow under CertaSite within its current customer base, and expand into new markets. The company’s employees retained their jobs in the acquisition, which was finalized earlier this year.

“CertaSite and Riverside are the perfect partners to build on the foundation laid by our employees and customers,” said ABC Owner Frank Lordi. “Transitioning our business to CertaSite blends our unique industry knowledge with a technology-based platform that offers new product lines, is professional and rooted in best practices, and provides significant value for customers.” 

ABC Fire Extinguisher will be now be a CertaSite company but will continue with the legacy brand in the local market that everyone has come to know as part of the acquisition.

“We are grateful to Frank Lordi and the ABC family for their continued partnership throughout this process,” Wyatt said. “We are committed to preserving the legacy that these dedicated professionals built and recognize and respect their strong local presence. Our team will provide our new employees with development and career advancement, and expanded services and support to customers. We are thrilled to be expanding our unique brand of customer service in this market.”

This is CertaSite’s second acquisition of an Ohio-based commercial fire protection and life safety company. County Fire Protection joined the CertaSite family in 2018, and serves customers in Kent, Columbus, Toledo and Rimersburg, Penn. Rich Kendle, who manages the Kent office, will oversee the Youngstown operations. 

CertaSite has now acquired eight fire protection and life safety companies, and is actively engaged in bringing new businesses under the CertaSite umbrella. To date, the CertaSite family includes: ABC Fire Extinguisher Co. (Youngstown, Ohio); Approved Protection Systems (Michigan); Approved Safety and Security (South Bend, Ind.); Company One Suppression (Illinois and Iowa); County Fire Protection (Ohio); Erlich Fire Protection (Michigan); Field’s Fire Protection (Michigan); and Spears Fire & Safety (Michigan). 

Headquartered in Indianapolis, CertaSite primarily serves customers in the Midwest, with plans to strategically grow in new markets. Markets of focus for 2020 include Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.