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Allied Universal is an American
private security A private security company is a business entity which provides armed or unarmed security services and expertise to clients in the private or public sectors. Overview Private security companies are defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic ...
and staffing company, based in
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania Conshohocken ( ; ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in suburban Philadelphia. Historically a large mill town and industrial and manufacturing center, after the decline of industry in ...
and
Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...
. Formed in 2016 by the merger of AlliedBarton and Universal Services of America, Allied Universal is the world's largest provider of private
security guards A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) ...
. It is also the third largest United States–based employer globally with 800,000 employees.


History

Allied Universal started as two different companies: AlliedBarton and Universal Protection Services.


AlliedBarton

AlliedBarton was founded as Allied Security in 1957 in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
as a provider of contracted security guards and related services. In 2004, Allied Security acquired
Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...
-based Security Systems Inc. (SSI) and
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
-based Barton Protective Services to form AlliedBarton Security Services - creating the largest American-owned contract security services company in the United States.


Universal Protection Service

Universal Protection Service was founded in 1965. It started as a janitorial company and expanded into security by 1969.


After the 2016 merger

In 2016, AlliedBarton and Universal Services of America merged to form Allied Universal. In February 2017, the company officially began operations under its new name. After the merger, Allied Universal was considered the largest security company in North America. In January 2018, the company paid $90,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit from a Muslim employee in California who sought a religious exemption to the company’s grooming standards and was fired. Also in 2018, the radio program
This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...
ran an hour-long feature story about sexual harassment and racism within Allied's operations at JFK airport and the company's responses to it. In response to the allegations, the company issued a statement saying these “isolated incidents are not indicative of our culture and work ethic,” and it has “zero tolerance against sexual harassment.” A related case was later voluntarily dismissed at the plaintiffs’ request. In July, Allied Universal announced the purchase of Georgia-based US Security Associates along with its affiliate Staff Pro for $1.5 billion. In 2019, the company was attacked with a ransomware scheme by the Maze group that turned out to be a stunt designed to warn companies about system security flaws. In December, majority owner Wendel sold most of its stake in Allied Universal to a Canadian pension fund
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (, CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was established in 1965 by an act of the ...
(CDPQ), and a new investment group led by investment company Warburg Pincus and an affiliate of the investment company J. Safra Group. In January 2021, Allied Universal acquired
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
-based competitor SecurAmerica. In December 2020, the Board of Directors and shareholders for British security firm G4S unanimously accepted a takeover offer of 5.1 billion USD from Allied Universal. The acquisition was completed in April 2021, creating a combined company of 800,000 employees, with revenues of more than 18 billion USD. In June 2023, it was reported that Allied Universal subsidiary G4S would be divesting completely from Israel in response to years of campaigning from the G4S Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for its involvement in Israel and the resulting “reputational damage”. Allied Universal was also said to have divested from Israel.


Services and operations

Allied Universal provides security products and services, including access control, intrusion, alarm detection, and IP-based video systems; janitorial; transition planning; green cleaning; and staffing services. Allied Universal operates in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
(including
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
and the
U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...
), the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
, and
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
. As of February 2022, it employed about 800,000 people.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Official website

Official Turkish website

Official Orlando Security website
Security companies of the United States Business services companies established in 2016 Companies based in Santa Ana, California 2016 establishments in California Warburg Pincus companies