Switzerland-based Cerberus ties up with local firm

Switzerland-based Cerberus has merged with a local company, Chittick Fire System Inc. to gain leadership in the country's life safety and protection system industry.

Heinz Manhart, technical support manager for the new firm, Cerberus Chittick Corp. (CCC), said over the weekend that they forecast sales of P475 million for fiscal year 1999-2000 as well as an annual growth rate of 20 percent in the next few years.

However, Manhart admitted that they are still having difficulties penetrating the Philippine market due to the "price-driven" mentality of most corporations and other institutions and the lack of regulations governing fire safety.

The situation, though, he said is not specific to the Philippines since other countries in Asia Pacific except the more developed ones, are concerned more about the price than the quality of the product and service.

"They are always looking for what they can get for the lowest price. They don't care if the system works or not. They must realize that they have to spend a little bit more to ensure that the products they get are reliable enough in case emergency," Manhart stressed.

He pointed out that companies would only have to spend as much as five percent of their total project cost to protect their investments but fire protection continues to be an area where cost-cutting is prevalent. A firm has to spend from P300,000 up for a CCC system.

With the consolidation, CCC will become a subsidiary of Cerberus which will acquire 40 percent of Chittick for P6 million.

Manhart said the new company will have a level of expertise that is comparable to Cerberus offices in more mature markets such as Europe and America.

The decision of Cerberus to merge with Chittick, he explained, is part of a worldwide expansion strategy started in 1995 which aimed to turn the company into the number one provider of life safety systems in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.

"As a result of this strategy, Cerberus started to establish or acquire companies in target Asia Pacific countries. Our subsidiaries in Hong Kong were established over 10 years ago while Thailand followed suit in 1998. We are on track with the development of our business in the Philippines and this year, we're looking at further developments for our Taiwan market," he said.

CCC will carry the whole range of Cerberus life safety and asset protection systems such as fire protection and detection, electronic security and explosive and toxic gas detection systems.