The Best money can buy: Purchase dovetails with Invensys power portfolio

The current motto for the telecom industry seems to be, "If you can't beat it, buy it." Keeping with this trend is Invensys' $240 million purchase of Best Power of Necedah, Wis., in December. The merger was completed Dec. 30.

Best Power now operates under the newly created Invensys Secure Power division. Powerware, another Invensys-owned company that also operates under the division, will work closely with Best Power. John Paul, formerly president of Best Power, is pres-ident of the Secure Power division, which is based in Raleigh, N.C.

Best Power manufactures uninterruptible power supply (UPS) products for mid-range computers, industrial controls markets and the telecommunications market. Powerware provides power protection and management solutions for enterprisewide applications.

"We are now a billion dollar worldwide UPS company," Paul said. "We plan to be No. 1 in the marketplace pretty soon."

With the acquisition, Invensys Secure Power is looking to become the No. 3 vendor in Europe and to solidify the group's No. 1 position as an OEM. Best Power brings with it a sales staff, customers and products that the Invensys power division was lacking, mainly Ferroresonant technology, said Mark Ascolese, senior vice president of the large systems group and product marketing.

Although the product lines for the two vendors are complementary, the companies face integration challenges. "We have to figure out how to integrate European businesses and how to put together OEM businesses and not cost ourselves any business," Ascolese said.

However, the end result is expected to be worth it. "Whether you're a billion-dollar company, costs are the same to develop a new product, to train sales people, to run a Web site. These are fixed costs," Paul said. "A larger company affords large initiatives for growth." No changes have been planned for Best Power's product line. In fact, the company released a new UPS in November after the acquisition was announced. "The primary strategy is to make the company the best UPS supplier to the industry and to leverage capabilities going forward," Paul said.

Carriers that buy from Best Power and Invensys Secure Power will not notice a difference initially, sources at the companies said.

"While integrating operations internally, externally, we plan to be Best Power and Powerware," Paul said.

Instead of cutting back on products, the companies will segment the market in categories where products overlap, Ascolese said.