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September 30, 2008
British Company Buys Decatur Electronics, Inc.; Positions Firm for Expanded U.S. Public Safety Presence
DECATUR, IL – England-based Bowmer & Kirkland Ltd. purchased Decatur Electronics, Inc. effective Oct. 1, 2008.
Decatur Electronics, in addition to several other U.S. companies, will be a subsidiary of B & K. The companies will focus on public safety markets in all 50 states and internationally.
Decatur Electronics is one of four leading police radar manufacturers in the United States and the world. The company designed and manufactured the first radar for police more than 50 years ago. The company also designs, builds and sells in-car video systems, and speed and message trailers for law enforcement, schools and other applications. The company employs about 100 at its facilities in Decatur. B & K purchased ThunderWorks Mobile Engineering – a former division of Decatur Electronics – earlier this summer. TW serves the law enforcement, public safety and homeland security outfitting industry from its San Diego, CA facility.
B & K, headquartered in Derbyshire, England, is an 85-year-old, family-owned international holding company. It has multiple business operations in many nations across the globe and employs more than 1,500. It is ranked 54th out of Britain’s top 100 private companies with sales of $1.5 billion U.S. in 2007. The group also owns Sonic Communications and TransVisual Media, both of which are public safety companies with operations in England and Europe.
Bob Sanner, out-going owner of Decatur Electronics, stressed the new ownership for Decatur brings powerful opportunity to the company and positions Decatur for rapid growth in the U.S. law enforcement market.
“B & K brings to Decatur and the United States great resources and strengths for public safety,” Sanner said. “All of B & K’s divisions add products and resources that will benefit our company and most importantly the law enforcement customers and everyday citizens we serve.”
Brian Brown, Director of Corporate Operations for Decatur, was named CEO of Decatur and will serve as B & K Managing Director of U.S. Operations. Brown said all operations at Decatur Electronics will continue “as-is” for the time being.
“This purchase and new partnership between B & K, its European divisions and U.S. counterparts adds strength to Decatur Electronics brand and current market position,” he said. “These new resources escalate the opportunity the company has been focused on for the past two decades under the Sanner family ownership.”
Brown said B & K plans to position itself in the U.S. and international markets on its divisions’ strengths in public safety, homeland security and public security sectors.
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