Vivint Inc., the Provo-based solar, security and home automation company, will be acquired by global investment firm Blackstone Group LP, valuing the company around $2 billion and making it one of the biggest deals in Utah history.
“Having Blackstone behind us supercharges our ability to continue growing the company and the technology and services we will roll out over the next few years” including international expansion, home health care and solar, Todd Pedersen, chief executive officer of Vivint, said in a telephone interview.
Related story:earlier this month. The company plans to add another 1,200 to 1,500 employees by the end of 2013, Pedersen said.
The company, formerly known as APX Alarm Security Solutions, is expanding into home automation, which allows residents to turn off appliances and monitor energy costs remotely among other services.
The company earns about $360 million a year. Vivint also added 170,000 new customers in 2011.
"We're not trying to be that system that is $1 million in up front costs; we're trying to sell to every American," Pedersen previously told the Deseret News at his Provo headquarters. "The objective is simplifying life, increasing energy efficiency and protecting families."
Blackstone, the investment firm purchasing Vivint, has holdings in companies such as Leica, The Weather Channel, Hilton Worldwide and Apria Healthcare.
The transaction between Blackstone and Vivint will be in cash and not stock, Pedersen said.
“I asked for it to be paid in gold,” Pedersen, who plans to buy a new Dodge truck, said. “But they will not pay me in gold. They told me.”
EMAIL: jferguson@desnews.com
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Joey Ferguson is a business reporter for the Deseret News who focuses on public finance. He joined Deseret News after graduating from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a bachelor's degree in journalism in May 2011. He more ..
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So if Obama had his way he would like to take a lion's share of Mr. Pedersen's money.
I think smart and rich guys like Mr. Pedersen need to keep a lion's share of their money and create more companies that employ more More..
milhouse says:
"Except that Vivint's employees are underpaid part-timers, whose earnings are not sufficient to sustain an economy, . . ."
I have no idea how much Vivint's employees are paid. But every one of More..
A TRUE patriot would pay a good portion of his earnings from this sale to Uncle Sam . . . so that Uncle Sam can send money to the Middle East and North Africa to fund the Arab Spring and promote good will among all of that region's peace loving More..