The company has taken the inorganic route to growth and is set to offer end-to-end security solutions
By Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap
Ozone Enterprise Group has acquired WallCam, a company engaged in security and surveillance business in India. Following the acquisition, WallCam has become a fully-owned subsidiary of Ozone. In an exclusive interaction with Sourcing Hardware at the company’s Bali Nagar office in Delhi, managing director Alok Aggarwal shared that besides organic growth, the Ozone Group has been exploring ways to achieve inorganic growth for some time. “We had been actively exploring options to diversify into the security and surveillance segment. After contemplating both organic and inorganic options, we finally narrowed down on taking the inorganic route with the WallCam acquisition.” Ozone already has leading positions in the segments of door & window hardware, glass hardware and door locks.
“As a group we were very hungry for expansion and diversification. Ozone is already manufacturing steel doors and safes, and selling mechanical, digital, biometric, finger-print locks, etc. So, entering the end-to-end security and surveillance solutions domain is but an obvious extension,” he reasoned. WallCam was a business vertical owned by telecom major Videocon, and Ozone completed its acquisition in the month of April this year. Ozone WallCam products will now be marketed with the tagline ‘bach ke rehna, tujh pe nazar hai.’
“The purpose of acquiring WallCam is to give a head-start to our diversification plans and get accesses to WallCam’s existing business, brand, and sales and distribution network. We are excited about this new move as it is in synergy with our growth ambitions and abilities.”
Going forward group company Ozone Secutech Pvt Ltd will market WallCam products including CCTV cameras and allied products, and
will emerge as a 360° security platform. It has already absorbed the over 1,000 touch-points and 70-member team of WallCam.
According to Aggarwal, there may be an overlap in terms of channel partners, but not all the Ozone dealers will be selling CCTV products. “Hardware is a sell and forget product. As for security and surveillance, it is a combination of hardware, software, networking and installation. We need to ensure that our channel partners are able to provide the complete solution to the customers.” He explained, “That’s why we have system integrators; they will procure the camera, recorder and cable; will examine security needs of the customer; will analyse the distance, focus, etc and accordingly the solution will be provided.” CCTV equipment sale involves the assessment of need for megapixel, light capability, zoom, etc. Therefore sellers need to provide solutions and not simply advise.
Ozone Secutech will build upon the channel that it has inherited through the acquisition and add more products to its range. In a year or so the total number of touch points will likely increase to 2,500. “Ozone has been a frontrunner in the business segments it operates in. We are readying Ozone for the future and developing the market as well. For the security solutions platform we have specialist dealers and will develop more of them,” remarked Aggarwal. “We will be launching, very soon, a number of IoT products. Our safes, locks, cameras, etc are all Internet connected.”
Ozone sees business potential emerging from the government’s focus on smart cities, convention centres, healthcare including AIIMS and district hospitals, IITs, and other large infrastructure projects. All categories of infrastructure require similar solutions for surveillance and security, but the differentiating factor is the software and analytics. So, while the camera captures the image, the software analyses and proposes actions. The WallCam cameras are being imported in CKD format and being assembled locally.
Aggarwal shared that Ozone will invest Rs 100 crore over the next two and half years to build manufacturing capability for CCTV cameras, security and surveillance products and Internet of Things (IoT) in India. “The investment will be directed towards manufacturing, research & development, marketing, etc,” he informed. “Over the next three to four years we expect revenues of Rs 500 crore from the security solutions platform. As for the group, we expect to clock revenues of Rs 1,000 crore in the next three to four years.”
