Global Security Services Market Consolidation Increasing in Wake of Pandemic

 The Freedonia Group finds that market disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a high level of acquisitions in 2020 and 2021, as firms responded to the challenging environment by acquiring struggling competitors. Companies are facing a tight competitive environment, where acquisitions represent an important way to grow both market share and service competencies. Firms that wish to expand are thus required to closely monitor the status of smaller businesses to take advantage of acquisition opportunities ahead of competitors.

During the pandemic, market consolidation was particularly pronounced in the cash-in-transit and related services segment, with segment leader Brink’s making a number of acquisitions in 2020 and 2021, including parts of G4S’s cash-in-transit business prior to its acquisition by Allied Universal.

By far the largest security industry transaction in recent years was Allied Universal’s acquisition of G4S. Prior to the transaction, these companies were the third and second largest industry participants, respectively. The combined business merges Allied Universal’s leadership in the North American market with G4S’s broader global scope to form the world’s largest security farm.

Leading providers of conventional security services also continue to acquire smaller firms with advanced technological competencies as the security systems integration market develops. In particular, Securitas AB has made a number of recent acquisitions aimed at boosting its revenues from electronic security services.

Global Security Services Revenues to Near $300 Billion in 2026

Global security service revenues are forecast to increase 4.4% per year to $295 billion in 2026, with most growth occurring in the first half of the forecast period due to strengthening economic environments as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic fades. Though the most significant recovery from the pandemic-driven downturn already occurred in 2021, long-term growth prospects for the industry are quite healthy, as companies work to respond to an evolving social environment and provide increasingly complex technology-aided solutions.

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Global Security Services provides historical data (2011, 2016, and 2021) and forecasts for 2022, 2026 and 2031 for global security services revenues by service and market in US dollars. Total revenues for individual countries are also presented in local currency terms.

Services covered include:

• guard and guard patrol services
• alarm monitoring services, including personal emergency response services (PERS)
• cash-in-transit and related services
• security systems integration services
• other security services, include consulting, private investigations, and such niche services as pre-employment screening , drug and contraband detection dog services, and private airline security services

Markets covered include:

• commercial and industrial
• government and institutional
• residential