Volume 44

The recent acquisition of Avant-Garde by dormakaba has generated notable buzz and speculation across the industry. To cut through the noise and provide real insight, I spent an hour in candid, unscripted conversation with leaders from both companies: Derek Sarmas, VP dormakaba Access Automation Solutions, and Eric Mager, CEO Avant-Garde. There were no prepared talking points (I did send the questions, but we didn’t review them), no press spin (I am not a journalist). Our goal was to dig into why this deal happened, why now, and what it signals for the market’s future. Given the confusion and projections swirling since the news broke, I wanted to lay out the facts and implications clearly. Moving forward, I hope to provide more convos like this after significant M&A announcements like this.

The main concern I heard is that integrators fear that dormakaba will compete with them after the acquisition. However, both dormakaba and Avant-Garde emphasized repeatedly that integrators will continue to be their primary customers. dormakaba’s preferred approach is to create end-user demand and close sales through channel partners, maintaining a strong integrator ecosystem. This deal does not alter that model. I have often noted that while integrators traditionally controlled demand, new realities, such as teaming and, occasionally, direct sales, are emerging. Still, integrators remain central.

The main reason for acquiring Avant-Garde is to improve execution, which customers now demand. dormakaba is implementing its “core-in-core” strategy within Entrance Systems Control (ESC), combining manufacturing with installation and lifecycle services. Avant-Garde provides dormakaba with a highly skilled, scalable execution team for ESC in North America, a capability it previously lacked in this market.

This matters more than many people realize. In theory, anyone can sell an optical turnstile or a security revolving door. In practice, the success or failure of those systems is determined long after the purchase order is signed. These products live in environments with unforgiving tolerances, where security and life safety intersect. Here, mistakes are life-and-death, expensive, visible, and brand-damaging. When specialized security entrance systems are installed by general door companies or underqualified subcontractors, the manufacturer’s reputation often suffers. The customer also suffers.

That problem is not theoretical. It is real, common, and getting worse as systems become more connected, software-driven, and interdependent. Post-COVID, the threat landscape has evolved quickly. Deployment velocity has increased. The margin for error has shrunk. dormakaba’s view is that if they put their name on these solutions, they need more control over whether those solutions succeed in the field.

Avant-Garde was already operating at the center of this reality. Long before the acquisition, integrators often pulled them into projects to ensure dormakaba products were selected and installed properly, and to support them after the fact. In other words, the two companies were already serving the same customers on the same projects in complementary ways. The acquisition formalizes what was already happening organically.

One concern I’ve heard repeatedly is whether Avant-Garde will now be forced to sell only dormakaba products. That was addressed directly and unambiguously. Avant-Garde will continue to select the best product for the application, even if that product does not come from dormakaba. Just as important, their service organization remains brand-agnostic. That ability to install, commission, warranty, and service third-party products is not being dismantled. It is one of the assets that dormakaba wanted.

A central argument that emerged is that this deal is driven by customer needs rather than by market consolidation. There’s a belief that consolidation usually reduces choice, but in this case, it is argued that strategic consolidation can actually improve service quality and reliability. Customers increasingly want a single accountable partner who takes responsibility for complex systems, and this acquisition aims to provide that.

That “one throat to choke” idea came up more than once, especially in the context of airports, data centers, and other verticals with little tolerance for downtime or finger-pointing. Customers do not want to play phone tag between the manufacturer, integrator, subcontractor, and service provider when something goes wrong. They want clarity, ownership, and “predictable outcomes.” This acquisition is an attempt to move closer to that expectation without blowing up the channel.

There was also an important distinction made that helps frame dormakaba’s recent activity more clearly. Some of its investments, such as Safetrust and RealSense, are “product investments.” They are about building demand, new capabilities, and future-facing technology. The Avant-Garde acquisition is different. It is a “delivery investment.” It is about making sure that what the market already wants is deployed correctly, supported properly, and sustained over time. Many companies are good at the first category. Far fewer are willing to invest seriously in the second.

Looking ahead 18 to 24 months, the vision they outlined was straightforward but ambitious. For integrators, it means easier access to a consolidated ESC offering, dedicated consultative support, and predictable installation quality. For customers, it means that every dormakaba entrance solution, from turnstiles to mag locks, is installed, commissioned, warrantied, and serviced to the same standard. For dormakaba, it means owning not just the product, but the outcome.

Finally, there is the cultural side, which is harder to measure but often more determinative than strategy decks. This deal worked, in their telling, because the philosophies aligned. Avant-Garde built its business on execution, precision, and standing behind its installations. dormakaba saw that same mindset as essential to protecting its brand as systems become more complex and interconnected. The analogy was appropriately made to high-tolerance mechanical systems: when things need to fit perfectly, competence matters more than scale.

In the end, this deal makes sense and is coherent, even if you do not like industry consolidation. It is not about replacing integrators, but about recognizing that successfully deploying modern entrance systems requires more than selling hardware. The key differentiator is ensuring these systems work reliably every time.

Note: In the future, these types of articles on recent breaking news will be part of the Access Control Executive Brief, available exclusively to subscribers. Sign up here.

This is the first Brief of 2026, and I want to start the year with a story about an outcome we can still choose (and some already have). This story was sparked by multiple discussions I’ve had with many of you over the past month, and reinforced over the winter break during conversations with someone who spent their career in the PBX industry.

And WOW do things sounds familiar…Continue reading by subscribing to The Access Control Executive Brief.

A lot of the discussion around the supposed demise of value investing tends to start with the same premise: It no longer works the way it used to. I think that diagnosis misses the point. The issue isn’t value as a concept. It’s how we choose to measure it.

Traditional value metrics like price to earnings and price to book were designed for an economy dominated by tangible assets. Factories, inventory, physical capital. Today, much of corporate value sits in intangibles like software, brand, intellectual property, and customer relationships.

Current accounting rules struggle to capture those assets cleanly. As a result, earnings can be distorted by amortization, stock-based compensation, restructuring charges, and a long list of “adjustments.” Book value is often meaningless for asset-light businesses.

There is still one metric that cuts through most of that noise: free cash flow. Short of outright fraud, it’s very difficult to manipulate the amount of cash a business generates after paying for its operating and capital needs. That’s why I think free cash flow yield is the yardstick for modern value investing…Continue reading by subscribing to The Access Control Executive Brief.