Servidyne Buys Atlantic Lighting and Supply

Servidyne Inc. has acquired Atlanta-based Atlantic Lighting and Supply Co. Inc., a distributor of energy-efficient lighting products.

Servidyne prefers to call itself “a building performance expert services and real estate company” rather than an energy-service company (ESCO), although it provides many of the same services as an ESCO, said Alan R. Abrams, Servidyne’s chairman, president and CEO. Rob Edwards, a selling co-owner of Atlantic Lighting and Supply, will join Servidyne and will continue as Atlantic’s president.

Established in 1979, Atlantic Lighting & Supply is a lighting distributor that works with and sells to property managers, building engineers, contractors, store planners, facility managers and architects in the commercial, industrial, multifamily and institutional markets. The 29-year-old company specializes in the design, sale, distribution and installation of energy-efficient lighting systems.

Atlantic Lighting & Supply’s services include assistance in lighting design and retrofits, building energy audits and lighting maintenance. The company is an authorized distributor for Philips Lighting, Osram/Sylvania, Advance Transformer, Columbia, Con-Tech, Prescolite, Juno, Hubbell, Stonco, Crescent and Brownlee Lighting. Atlantic Lighting & Supply will operate as a division of Servidyne at its existing facility at 218 Ottley Dr. in Atlanta.

“The acquisition will open up a clearer distribution channel for us, and will provide a meaningful contribution to the company moving forward,” said Alan R. Abrams, Servidyne’s chairman, president and CEO. “They are coming to us with established customers, and we believe that together we’ll be able to leverage our collective expertise to capture new market share and add value to our lighting business.”

Atlantic Lighting and Supply’s Rob Edwards agrees that the pairing benefits all stakeholders. “Servidyne is well-known for its leadership in this market. I am excited about joining the team. I look forward to continuing to strengthen our place in the energy efficiency marketplace with our combined capabilities.”

Edwards was given 2,000 shares of restricted common stock and 50,000 stock appreciation rights with an exercise price of $5.25 per share, Servidyne’s closing price on June 6.

Before the acquisition, 55 percent of Servidyne’s business was lighting, said Abrams.

“We expect this transaction to provide a meaningful contribution to this segment of our business. It’s a value center for us in that we’re interested in the distribution business to source these lighting needs more efficiently. Atlantic is going to allow us to form a more direct line to manufacturers, and that’s going to benefit our activities and add value to our resulting sales.”

Besides its headquarters in Atlanta, Servidyne has locations in Birmingham, Ala.; Columbia, S.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Los Angeles; Raleigh, N.C.; Louisville, Ky.; and Birch Run, Mich.

Formerly known as Abrams Industries Inc., Servidyne is a publicly held company that focuses on energy services and facility solutions, as well as commercial real estate investment and development. Servidyne was acquired by Abrams Industries in 2001 and that company took on the Servidyne name in July 2006. According to the company’s website, Servidyne has grown in part through acquisitions of iTendant and Building Performance Engineers (BPE). iTendant is a Web-based property maintenance and service solution that automates maintenance management using the Internet and wireless handheld devices, while the purchase of BPE augmented Servidyne’s energy and engineering services capabilities. In addition to its interest in the building performance services, Servidyne also owns or controls shopping centers in the Midwest and Southeast and office properties in metropolitan Atlanta.

According to its most recent 10-K filed with the Security Exchange Commission, Servidyne’s revenues from continuing operations for fiscal 2006 were $18.9 million, down 14 percent from its 2005 revenues of $21.6 million.