August Home Was Just Purchased By The World's Biggest Lock Maker

Assa Abloy announced today that it plans to purchase smart lock manufacturer August Home. Though Assa Abloy might not be a familiar name to some, one of the companies it owns will be: Yale. It would appear that August Home is going to be in good company once it joins Assa Abloy's portfolio.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed (and indeed, the announcement says that terms won't be shared), but given the name recognition of August Home in the smart lock space, we can probably assume that Assa Abloy paid a decent amount to absorb it. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the year, but as with all deals like this, it'll be subject to regulatory approval.

Assuming regulators do approve Assa Abloy's buyout, the way forward with August Home is already clear. Assa Abloy looks to strengthen its position in the "smart door" space, utilizing Yale's long history as a lock maker and August Home's efforts in developing smart locks and video doorbells. Beyond that, it seems safe to assume that August Home will be able to develop products faster and bring them to market with more frequency with Assa Abloy backing it.

"August has created a fantastic consumer experience through differentiated features and software," said Thanasis Molokotos, who serves as Assa Abloy's executive vice president and head of the company's Americas division. "We look forward to the opportunity to draw from the 180 years of cumulative experience of the Yale team plus the technology expertise of the August team to create the future of smart residential doors."

For those unfamiliar with Swedish company Assa Abloy, all you really need to know is that it's the largest lock manufacturer in the world by sales volume. That factoid alone should make it clear why it wants to buy August Home. With the deal expected to be in the books by the time we're into 2018, we should hear about what's next for August Home soon enough, so stay tuned.