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Verisure

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Verisure
Company typePrivately held Aktiebolag[1]
IndustrySecurity
Headquarters
Versoix, Switzerland
Area served
Europe, South America
ProductsAlarm services for business customers and consumers[2]
Websitewww.verisure.com

Verisure, formerly known as Securitas Direct is a security company based in Versoix, close to Geneva in Switzerland and active in 17 countries in Europe and South America.[3] Hellman & Friedman is currently the main shareholder in the group.[4]

The name Securitas Direct is used in two of the group's most prominent markets, Spain and Portugal, but may eventually change to the Verisure name. The Swedish unit addressing the business segment holds the name Securitas Direct and will not change to Verisure.

History

Verisure was founded in 1988 in Sweden by Dick Seger, under the name Securitas Direct and within Securitas AB, which was founded in 1934.[5] Then it turned into an independent company and during the 1990s the expanded into Europe and Latin America.

In 1993, the company set up remote monitoring and responses by human interlocutors. In 1996, an offer for small businesses was set up, excluding sensitive businesses such as jewelry stores and banks. In 1997, the company was acquired by the Securitas group, the world leader in security services. From 1999, GSM transmission is used10, and one year later an internal mobile application is developed for sales staff.

Becoming Verisure in 2009, the new name of Securitas Direct's consumer branch, this corporate name has changed to Verisure in 2011.[6]

It was listed at Nasdaq OMX Stockholm in 2006, when it was distributed to the shareholders of Securitas AB. In 2008, the company was bought by ESML Intressenter AB and delisted.[1][2][7]

In 2011, EQT sells the company to Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman for €2.3bn.[8]

In a judgement from April 2015 the district court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, ruled that the direct canvassing (doorstep selling directly to consumers), with alarm systems and associated multiyear PAC subscriptions, one of the primary commercial practices of Verisure (Securitas Direct), is unlawful towards consumers.[9]

Countries

The group operates in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK, Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru.[10]

Belgium

Material sold in Belgium at the end of the 2010s.

The creation of the Belgian subsidiary is the result of the takeover of Belgacom S.A. by Securitas Direct in 2001.[11]

Brazil

The company has been expanding in Brazil since 2011.[12] In 2020 it has 100,000 customers and 700 employees and has become the most present company in this sector in the country.[12]

France

French Verisure headquarters at Antony in Paris metropolitan area.

The French subsidiary have 640,000 customers by 2022, making it the second largest in the group after the Spanish subsidiary.[13]

Brand name

The French subsidiary has had many names, from SDF Sécurité at its creation to SDF significant Sécurité de France. The possible confusion with the SDF acronym led to a name change to Domen, then Domen Sécurité,[14] Securitas Domen,[15] then Securitas Direct and finally Verisure.

Securitas Direct should not be confused with the Securitas AB group, which is specialized in private security services for large companies and industries. The two companies were no longer linked after the IPO of Securitas Direct in 2006.[16]

Before fully using the name Verisure, the French subsidiary temporarily used the name "Verisure by Securitas Direct"[17] in 2011. Verisure is thus gradually becoming the official name of the company in the countries where it operates, with the transition being finalized in April 2020.

History

SDF Sécurité quotation for a business, in the late 80's or early 90's
  • 1988: the company was created in May[18] with marketing in June[19] by the structure HD 2000,[20] HD being the initials of "Habiter Demain", meaning living tomorrow in French, within the EDF-GDF group and at the initiative of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations.[16] The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations holds 52% of the shares and EDF holds 28%.[21][22] The city chosen was Rennes, where HD 2000 was located, the director was Christian Arsac, and the company's initial name was SDF - Sécurité.[20]
  • 1997: joining the Securitas AB group, the company is then called Securitas Direct.
  • 1998: use of Secom alarms allowing wireless communication.
  • 2006: Securitas Direct is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange[16][23] and becomes an independent company.
  • 2013: Stéphane Plaza becomes the brand ambassador via the M6 Group.[24]
  • 2015: use of the Sigfox network for a link with alarms via an anti-jamming low frequency network. The company acquires its competitor Mediaveil recovering the patent of the opacifying fog.

Partnership

A partnership was set up with Somfy, via the Tahoma box, in April 2016.[25] · [26] · [27] · [28] Home automation functionalities can then be included in the offer, this partnership then ceased, as Somfy created its own remote surveillance.[29] A partnership with Covéa was launched in 2017: it allows customers of both Verisure and MMA, MAAF or GMF to not pay a deductible in case of burglary. In 2022 the partnership was renewed.

Germany

Verisure opened its German headquarters in Ratingen[30] near Düsseldorf in November 2018.[31] This is also the location of the emergency call and service control center (NSL) for German customers,[32] which was certified in 2020 by VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH.[33] The company has branches in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Berlin,[34] Baden-Württemberg and, most recently, in Hamburg in 2021.[35]

Italy

The Italian subsidiary started in Rome in 2013 in the Esposizione Universale Roma district.[36] The subsidiary in turn launches the opacifying fog.[37] During the summer of 2019, the national consumers' union denounces the brand's advertisements.[38] Its president, Massimiliano Dona, points out that prices including VAT are not clearly indicated and that the subscription price is not always mentioned.[38] The company responded by saying that in some cases VAT does not always apply and that a free estimate is offered before the actual purchase.[38]

Spain

Verisure building at Pozuelo de Alarcón.

The Spanish subsidiary was created in 1989.[39] About 2,500 salespeople worked for the company in 2018, this large number makes it tricky to control,[40] in 2013 a salesperson, who was later punished, encouraged account managers to fake the existence of flights in order to get more customers.[40] In 2019 it had 1.2 million clients and is the most developed of the group.[41] In March 2020 Corporación Financiera Alba made a change in its portfolio, including an investment in Verisure[42] of 7.5% or 557 million euros.[43]

Critics

The Spanish subsidiary has been denounced by Facua and sanctioned[44] for bad practices in its advertising, using fear of the elderly as a commercial strategy,[45] for hiding unfair clauses in its contracts[46] and for the lack of efficiency of its alarm systems.[47][48]

Two fictitious articles were published on the satirical website El Mundo Today about Verisure: one stating that Netflix had launched a horror film based on the company's advertisements [49] and the other about the fact that the company was burglarizing people who had not yet subscribed to its offer.[50]

United Kingdom

In 2018, it was the first subsidiary of the group to market the opacifying fog system, £5 million were invested to develop it.[51] During 2021–2022, the company is moving to North Tyneside to the Quorum Business Park.[52]

Controversy: price fixing in Norway

On Monday 17 June 2019 the Norwegian Competition Authority informs Verisure and Sector Alarm that they are liable for 784 million and 424 million of Norwegian krone respectively.[53] The Authority finds that the companies cooperated not to sell residential alarms to each other's customers between 2011 and 2017 and shared Norwegian customers. This is the second largest fine ever imposed by the Norwegian Competition Authority, at only four million less than the landmark fine Telenor received in 2018 for violating competition rules.[53] The amounts of these fines may not exceed 10% of the turnover of the companies concerned[54] Glenn Øivind Støldal, Verisure Norway's head of press relations, says he is disappointed by the analysis made and that Verisure does not wish to comment on whether the company will pay. The director of the Competition Authority, Lars Sørgard, says that with a preliminary assessment the case is of great importance but that it is still too early to say whether customers should be compensated.[53]

Also in spring 2019, electricity importer and mobile entrepreneur Nadir Nalbant strongly opposed the collaboration between Sector Alarm and Verisure.[55] He set up the alarm company Homely in 2019 with prices 5 times lower than those charged by its competitors, which he describes as artificially high.[55] He denounces the practices of Sector Alarm and Verisure, arguing that they have almost the same packages, the same prices and almost share the market between them, Nalbant told DN at the opening in March. He himself has been an alarm customer for nearly 20 years, and says he has never been contacted during that time by the competitor's salespeople. In his view, the amount of the fee speaks volumes about the price level in the market.[55]

On 21 June 2019, Sector Alarm agreed to pay the Norwegian Competition Authority's NOK 425 million while stating that it had not collaborated with Verisure.[56] Glenn Øivind Støldal commented that he did not know what could have motivated Sector Alarm to make such a decision. He still states that he believes that there was no illegal cooperation between the companies.[56]

In July 2019, Øystein Foros, Professor of Economics at the Norwegian School of Economics, states that the agreement between the two companies is clearly a step towards reducing competition. He says that when Verisure and its business partners give incentives not to take each other's customers, it prevents competition in the alarm market.[57] In November of the same year the deadline expired and Verisure refused to pay the fine.[58] Lars Sørgard stated that market sharing is a very serious form of competitive crime, and the fees that have now been announced confirm this.[58]

On 25 November 2020, the Competition Authority confirmed its decision by fining Verisure NOK 766 million and Sector Alarm NOK 467.3 million.[59] The difference in the amounts is explained by the difference in sales between the two companies.[59]

References

  1. ^ a b "Shareholders". Securitas Direct SA. 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  2. ^ a b "Our offer". Securitas Direct. 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  3. ^ "Expertise, innovation, proximité : Verisure réaffirme sa stratégie de marque". strategies.fr (in French). Verisure. 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  4. ^ "Onze geschiedenis". Verisure. August 9, 2017.
  5. ^ "Webcast - Understanding Revenue Models for Smart Home Technologies". parksassociates.com. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  6. ^ "Verisure, The Pioneer Protecting Individuals And Small Businesses For More Than 30 Years". globalthoughtleaders.org. Verisure. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  7. ^ "Annual Report 2006" (PDF). Securitas. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  8. ^ Daniel Schäfer (2011-06-11). "EQT sells Securitas Direct for €2.3bn". ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  9. ^ "Een kudtkoekiewall. Omdat dat moet, van de kudtkoekiewet". daskapital.nl.
  10. ^ "The History of Verisure: the alarm company". verisure.co.uk. Verisure. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  11. ^ "Securitas completes Belgacom transaction". securitas.com. securitas. 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  12. ^ a b "Verisure é a número 1 em alarmes no Brasil!". segs.com.br (in Portuguese). Eliana Miranda. 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  13. ^ "Équipé d'opportunity, Verisure améliore sa prospection téléphonique". en-contact.com (in French). En-Contact. 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  14. ^ "Entreprise Verisure". manageo.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  15. ^ "Securitas Direct, peut-on faire confiance au leader européen?". telesurveillance-guide.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  16. ^ a b c "Système d'alarme et télésurveillance maison – Securitas Direct". www.mysecurite.com (in French). MySecurite. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  17. ^ Ismail, Nick (2017-03-21). "The connected security space in the home". information-age.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  18. ^ "Verisure". www.verif.com (in French). verif.com. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  19. ^ "La diversification d'EDF Câble, télésécurité, immeubles intelligents". Le Monde (in French). Le Monde. 1988-04-20. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  20. ^ a b "HD 2000 une "première" unique en Europe" (PDF). www.espace-sciences.org (in French). Réseau mensuel de l'innovation régionale. 1989-12-01. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  21. ^ Sabirau-Perez, Marie-Agnès (1988). Secteur public et concurrence (in French). Perpignan: Presses universitaires de Perpignan. ISBN 978-2-908912-34-0.
  22. ^ "Journal officiel "Lois et Décrets" - JORF n° 0193 du 22 août 1990". www.legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). Légifrance. 1990-08-22. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  23. ^ "Securitas : les comptes plongent dans le rouge au deuxième trimestre". latribune.fr (in French). 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  24. ^ "Stéphane Plaza est le nouvel ambassadeur de Verisure". simoneetnelson.com (in French). 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  25. ^ Pichot, Sylvain (2016-04-26). "Pack Serenity et association avec Verisure, Somfy prêt à la surveillance des habitations". lemondenumerique.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  26. ^ "Somfy et Verisure s'allient pour sécuriser la maison connectée". lemoniteur.fr (in French). 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  27. ^ "Somfy: partenariat stratégique avec Verisure". lexpress.fr (in French). 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  28. ^ Gannaz, Laurent (2016-04-19). "Somfy ajoute de la sécurité dans sa domotique". ledauphine.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  29. ^ "« Capital » décode la technologie au service d'un été sans cambriolage". ouest-france.fr (in French). 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  30. ^ "Schweizer eröffnen Kontrollzentrum". rp-online.de (in German). Joachim Preuß. 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  31. ^ "Verisure baut Deutschland-Zentrale aus". rp-online.de (in German). Stefan Mülders. 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  32. ^ "Neuigkeiten aus dem Hause Verisure". fenster-tueren-technik.de (in German). fenster-tueren-technik. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  33. ^ "Zertifikat W 120005". vds.de (in German). vds. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  34. ^ "Verisure eröffnet neue Filialen". fenster-tueren-technik.de (in German). fenster-tueren-technik. 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  35. ^ "Eröffnung in Hamburg". fenster-tueren-technik.de (in German). fenster-tueren-technik. 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  36. ^ "Verisure Lavora con noi: assunzioni e come candidarsi". ticonsiglio.com (in Italian). 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  37. ^ "ZeroVision: la rivoluzione dell'allarme casa di Verisure". adnkronos.com (in Italian). 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  38. ^ a b c "I cartelloni pubblicitari dell'antifurto Verisure "dimenticano" l'Iva sul prezzo". ilsalvagente.it (in Italian). 2019-07-03. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  39. ^ "Securitas Direct Espana SA". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  40. ^ a b Ferrer Morini, Thiago (2018-05-08). "Inteligencia artificial que protege". elpais.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  41. ^ Contreras, Rufino (2019-11-14). "Hace 25 años Securitas Direct inventó IoT". computing.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  42. ^ Cotizalia (2020-03-02). "Alba mantiene el ritmo de inversión pero aprovecha 2019 para deshacer posiciones". lavanguardia.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  43. ^ "Alba tomará participación indirecta del 7,5 % en Verisure (Securitas Direct)". lavanguardia.com (in Spanish). 2019-04-05. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  44. ^ "Madrid sanciona con 3.500 euros a Securitas Direct tras la denuncia de FACUA por publicidad engañosa". facua.org (in Spanish). 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  45. ^ "Denuncian cómo Securitas Direct asusta a un anciano para que contrate su alarma". digitalsevilla.com (in Spanish). 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  46. ^ "Una cliente de Securitas Direct: "Jamás imaginé que podría timarme"". metropoliabierta.com (in Spanish). 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  47. ^ "Un abogado denuncia que Securitas Direct falla por segunda vez en un robo". metropoliabierta.com (in Spanish). 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  48. ^ "Alarmados con Securitas Direct: un "modelo depredador"". atlantico.net (in Spanish). 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  49. ^ "Netflix estrena una película de terror basada en un anuncio de Securitas Direct". elmundotoday.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  50. ^ "Securitas Direct robará directamente en las casas de la gente que no contrate sus servicios". elmundotoday.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  51. ^ Parsons, Jeff (2018-07-10). "Unique 'fog bomb' burglar alarm system promises to keep homes and offices safe from thieves". mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  52. ^ Whitfield, Graeme (2021-11-03). "Alarm Verisure takes on new office as it drives towards 1,000 jobs on Tyneside". business-live.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  53. ^ a b c Bugge, William; Randen, Mads (2019-06-17). "Konkurransetilsynet varsler gigantgebyrer til Verisure og Sector Alarm for ulovlig samarbeid". dn.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  54. ^ Valderhaug, Roar (2020-10-04). "På to år har Konkurransetilsynet gitt 2,5 milliarder kroner i bøter". e24.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  55. ^ a b c Bugge, William (2019-06-17). "Kundene er blitt flådd". dn.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  56. ^ a b Mads, Randen; Heltne, Lars (2019-06-21). "Sector Alarm vedtar gebyret fra Konkurransetilsynet". dn.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  57. ^ Bugge, William; Randen, Mads (2019-07-03). "Verisure til selgere: «Ønsker primært ikke å hente kunder fra våre konkurrenter»". dn.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  58. ^ a b Randen, Mads (2019-11-20). "Fristen er ute: Verisure nekter å betale gigantgebyr på 784 millioner kroner fra Konkurransetilsynet". dn.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  59. ^ a b "Milliardgebyr til sammen til Verisure og Sector Alarm". dn.no (in Norwegian). 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
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