Securitas

Securitas is the world's largest security services company. Through 2020, the company generated SEK 107.6 billion (~$12.7B) in annual revenue, with guarding — traditional manned security officers placed at client sites on hourly or shift-based contracts — representing approximately 78% of Group sales. Security solutions and electronic security (cameras, access control, alarm monitoring) represented 22% of Group sales in 2020, per the Securitas 2020 Full Year Report. Manned guarding carried operating margins of approximately 4-5%, faced intense price competition as clients treated guards as interchangeable commodities, and was structurally exposed to labor cost inflation. The technology and electronic security segment grew faster but was sold largely as a standalone line of business, separate from the core guarding operations, limiting the company's ability to offer integrated bundled solutions at scale.

Starting in 2021, Securitas launched a systematic transformation to shift from a commodity labor model to an integrated security platform — combining guarding, electronic security, and remote operations under unified client contracts:

• Stanley Security acquisition ($3.2B, closed July 2022): Acquired the electronic security division of Stanley Black & Decker — at the time one of the largest electronic security businesses in North America — adding approximately $1.7B in annual electronic security revenue and ~10,000 electronic security professionals. This acquisition was the central investment that enabled Securitas to bundle manned guarding with comprehensive electronic security at scale, eliminating years of organic buildout.
• Integrated "Security as a Service" bundles: Developed offerings combining manned guarding, electronic security (cameras, access control), and remote monitoring under unified contracts. Bundled deployments substituted technology for labor hours at client sites, reducing guard headcount while maintaining security coverage — improving Securitas' unit economics and creating higher switching costs for clients.
• Security Operations Center (SOC) expansion: Built and expanded Security Operations Centers in key markets, providing 24/7 AI-assisted remote monitoring that could be layered onto guarding contracts as an additive technology component.
• Divestiture of technology-light operations: Divested low-margin manned guarding businesses in Nordic markets (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark) in 2022, concentrating capital in markets where technology-augmented bundled solutions could be scaled effectively.