Security Distribution
Security distributors stock and sell intrusion, video, access, and related equipment to the dealers and integrators that install it, sitting between the manufacturers and the field. The business runs on margin, inventory, and the strength of the lines it carries and the dealers it sells to. Victor advises distributor owners on sales and helps buyers judge the catalog, the customer base, and the working capital the business needs to run.
About Security Distribution
Distribution is valued on earnings, but the number behind the earnings depends on things a buyer has to look at closely: gross margin and how durable it has been, inventory turns, how much of the revenue rests on a few suppliers or a few exclusive lines, the breadth and loyalty of the dealer base, and the working capital tied up in stock and receivables. A distributor that carries sought-after lines and turns its inventory well is worth more than one with slow stock and a concentrated supplier base, even at similar revenue. Because so much value sits in inventory and receivables, the treatment of working capital is usually one of the more negotiated points in a sale, and Victor helps both sides work through it.
Valued on a multiple of EBITDA, with margin, inventory turns, and working capital driving the range.
Selected transactions
H.H.D. Imports Ltd.
Harding advised the owner of H.H.D. Imports, a Waterloo wine importing business, on its sale to Family Wine Merchants under the Henry of Pelham group.