Topsgrup acquires UK security firm

Completes move into the UK security sector after conquering India's

Security group Topsgrup has acquired 100 per cent stake in British security firm The Shield Guarding Company Limited for Rs167 crore (£19.5 million).

Topsgrup had originally picked up a 51 per cent majority stake in 2008, before opting to buy the rest.

"This acquisition marries two top performing companies into one powerful security services conglomerate," the company said. "The acquisition completes Topsgrup's move into the UK security sector, after conquering the Indian market."

Topsgrup, which began with eight customers, is one of India's largest security groups, valued at Rs1,700 crore. It comprises 12 companies with 93,000 employees, 120 offices and 8,000 clients in India, Israel and the UK.

While The Shield Guarding Company's management will remain, Topsgrup's global chairman, Diwan Rahul Nanda, will assume position as executive chairman of the company. Stuart Kedward, who has been with The Shield Guarding Company for 15 years, will become managing director.

"We stand committed to the British security industry and to delivering world-class security solutions," said Nanda, who figures in the Sunday Times Rich List 2012, with a fortune of Rs1,400 crore.

The Shield Guarding Company is a security services provider for global brands in the commercial, industrial, charitable and public space. It employs 2,000, with sales clocking Rs500 crore for the financial year 2012. The company is also mobilising an alarm-receiving centre that will go live in August, besides enhancing its range of services.

This is the only acquisition where an entrepreneur of an Indian multi-national company has bought a 100 per cent stake in a British security company.