Industry news

Shred-it and Cintas combine document destruction businesses

Toronto-based Shred-it International Inc. has announced that it will acquire the document destruction business of Cintas Corp., Cincinnati.

Under the agreement, Cintas and Shred-it will each contribute its document shredding business to a newly formed partnership. Cintas will own 42 percent of the new venture, while Shred-it shareholders will own 58 percent. The combined entity will operate under the Shred-it brand and is expected to have annual revenues in excess of $600 million, the companies say.

In addition to its 42 percent ownership of the partnership, Cintas will receive approximately $180 million in cash at the closing of the transaction.

The newly formed company will be headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, and will maintain a U.S. head office in Cincinnati. Vince De Palma, current president and CEO of Shred-it, will maintain these titles with the combined company. Karen Carnahan, currently president of Cintas’ document destruction division, will become COO. Other key leaders from Shred-it and Cintas will form the management team of the new organization.

The combined company will employ more than 5,000 associates, operate a fleet of more than 2,000 trucks and serve more than 300,000 customers each year.

“When Shred-it began as a one-truck operation in 1988, its founder Greg Brophy had set his sights on becoming a global leader in information destruction,” De Palma says. “We have carried on this vision, and with this combination, we will solidify our position as a leading global player, whose primary focus is on providing secure information destruction services. We will continue to deliver information destruction services to meet the growing demand for corporate information protection.”

De Palma adds, “Other key benefits of the transaction include a greatly expanded geographic footprint and the largest sales force of any information destruction company. Additionally, Shred-it will have a comprehensive service offering, as a result of combining Cintas’ plant-based operations with Shred-it’s mobile information destruction fleet.”

The transaction, which was approved by the Shred-it and Cintas boards, is expected to close before May 31, 2014, and is subject to customary and other closing conditions.

Eagle Secure Shredding expands through acquisition

Eagle Secure Shredding and Document Management Services LLC, based in Atlanta, has acquired Shred Doctor LLC of Newnan, Ga., expanding its on-site shredding division.

Eagle Secure Shredding and Document Management Services is a locally owned and operated shredding and document management company that serves metro Atlanta and the Southeast. The company provides on-site document and hard drive destruction as well as document storage and imaging solutions.

“We have had a long-term relationship with Jeff Easter and Shred Doctor over the last five years,” says Ian Taylor, CEO of Eagle Secure Shredding. “They have run a very customer-focused operation and are a very good fit for us,” Taylor adds.

Shred Doctor has provided on-site shredding to the area south of Atlanta for many years. The company also offers off-site destruction as well as routine shredding services to its customers.

As a result of the acquisition, Eagle Secure Shredding and Document Management Services will bring hard drive shredding and document storage solutions to Shred Doctor’s current customer base, which will be served from the company’s Tucker, Ga., location.

Court awards class-action settlement in Florida data breach case

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, is urging organizations responsible for protecting customer information to take note of a recent settlement in a class-action data breach lawsuit. The $3 million settlement awarded by a Florida court in mid-March of 2014 sets the stage for many more such settlements, according to NAID CEO Bob Johnson.

The suit stemmed from a laptop lost by AvMed, a Florida-based health insurer. According to widely published reports, after having been dismissed twice by lower courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit allowed several of the claims, including those pertaining to negligence and breach of contract, to remain and remanded the case back to the district court. The failure to dismiss the claims, a first in this type of legal action, is what then promoted AvMed to seek a settlement.

“Over the last 15 years, victims of data breaches occasionally sought financial compensation from the courts under the typical class-action process,” Johnson says. “Up until this Florida ruling, however, every such attempt had been summarily dismissed based on the absence of demonstrated financial damages. That’s why this is so significant. For the first time in history, with no damages directly related to the breach, the court allowed the case to proceed,” he adds.

This ruling could mean that in addition to the cost of breach reporting, credit monitoring and embarrassing headlines, class-action awards are more likely to be a costly consequence of data breaches in the future. Second, this precedent will provide an incentive for lawyers who specialize in class actions to bring more such cases. Similar awards are all but a certainty, NAID says, as is the cost of defending against them.

Iron Mountain appoints new CFO

The board of directors for Boston-based Iron Mountain has appointed Rod Day as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Day has served as Iron Mountain’s acting CFO since Nov. 1, 2013. He previously served as senior vice president and CFO of Iron Mountain International from November 2009 and as CFO of Iron Mountain Europe in 2008, when he joined the company.

Day, 49, is a seasoned finance executive with more than 25 years of experience, Iron Mountain says. Prior to joining Iron Mountain, he held several positions at AOL Europe, including director of financial control and planning, vice president of finance and strategy and, most recently, CFO for Europe. Prior to AOL, Day held senior strategic planning and finance roles at Kingfisher plc.

“Rod’s appointment demonstrates the solid bench strength within our management team,” says William L. Meaney, Iron Mountain president and chief executive officer. “Rod is the best fit for this role; he knows our business extremely well and has made substantial contributions to Iron Mountain. As CFO International, Rod drove enhanced profitability in our international operations and supported our expansion into high-growth emerging markets with a prudent approach to capital allocation.”

Al Verrecchia, Iron Mountain board of directors chairman, adds, “Rod’s track record reveals a proven ability to deliver improved operating efficiency and maximize returns on investment. With more than two decades of leadership experience in corporate finance and global operations, Rod is exceptionally qualified to oversee our financial strategy as we extend the durability of our storage rental business, expand our global leadership and pursue emerging business opportunities.”

Day says, “I am pleased to have the opportunity to lead the finance organization for Iron Mountain. The company has established a strong financial foundation for supporting both high-return investment and attractive stockholder payouts. I look forward to continuing to work with the board, our management team and our top-notch finance team to drive durable returns for our stockholders.”

Day will have responsibility for accounting, external reporting, financial planning, internal audit, investor relations and tax and treasury functions. He has a degree in economics from Cambridge University and an MBA from London Business School. Day trained as an accountant with Peat Marwick Mitchell.

NAID announces 2014 board of directors

On March 25, 2014, members elected individuals to six positions on the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) board of directors for 2014.

The following individuals were elected to a seat on the board:

• Steve Richards, CSDS, Richards & Richards Office Records Management, president-elect;
• Don Andriaansen, CSDS, Titan Mobile Shredding, secretary;
• Dag Adamson, Lifespan Technology Recycling, director;
• Lucas Gilmore, Gilmore Services, director;
• Eric Haas, ARMS, director; and
• Vlad Vasak, K-2 Partners LLC, vendor liaison.

These individuals will join President Chris Isabell and former President Tom Huth on the board.

“Over the years, NAID has benefited from leaders that represent a cross-section of businesses,” NAID CEO Bob Johnson says.

Leaving the board this year are Scott Fasken, John Mesrobian, Renee Keener, Angie Singer Keating and Paul Garfunkel.

This was the second year Phoenix-based NAID conducted an electronic vote, which allowed for a more convenient and easy balloting process, the association says. In the past, hard copy ballots were distributed, collected and counted at the annual NAID conference every year. This year, company representatives had two weeks prior to the conference to submit their votes, which allowed for a much larger participation compared with previous years, NAID says.

NAID is a nonprofit trade association of the secure destruction industry, currently representing more than 1,900 member locations globally. NAID’s mission is to promote the proper destruction of discarded information and to encourage the outsourcing of destruction needs to qualified contractors.

Allshred Services acquires Hoosier Shred LLC

Maumee, Ohio-based Allshred Services, one of the nation’s largest independent providers of secure shredding services, has announced its acquisition of Hoosier Shred LLC, based in Indianapolis, March 1, 2014.

Hoosier Shred, a National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) certified company, has been in the secure shredding business for seven years.

Willie Geiser, president and CEO of Allshred Services, says, “The acquisition of Hoosier Shred further increases our market share in the Indianapolis area, which has been a goal for us.”

He adds, “Hoosier Shred was a very well-run company with a good client base and an excellent reputation for quality customer service. We’re looking forward to adding those clients to the Allshred family.”

Aaron Metelko, former owner of Hoosier Shred, says, “Allshred Services is one of the most respected shredding firms in the nation. We are proud to have merged with a NAID certified company that has been in business for over 25 years, knowing that they will continue to provide the highest level of secure document destruction services that our customers require, expect and deserve.”

Allshred Services says it would like to continue to grow through strategic acquisitions, expanding within and beyond its existing eight-state footprint.

Allshred Services is a NAID certified provider of secure document destruction services and has been in business for more than 25 years. The company says it specializes in designing and implementing efficient, cost-effective data destruction programs for paper products as well as hard drives, CD-ROM diskettes, computer reel tapes, counterfeit clothing and other products, contraband, R&D designs, molds and any other material that could be used to cause potential harm to a company or an individual.

Access appoints Northwest regional vice president

Rob Alston, CEO of Access, headquartered in Livermore, Calif., the largest privately held records and information management services provider in the U.S., has announced the promotion of Christopher Slaughter to the newly created position of regional vice president for the Northwest, effective immediately.

Slaughter is a graduate of Washington State University. He started his business career with Washington Archives Management in March 2001 as a sales representative and was promoted to the positions of operations manager, IT manager and director of operations. He was responsible for the initial integration of Washington Archives Management into Access as well as the acquisitions of the File Box, Blue Bird and Emerald City.

Access serves 30 markets across the United States and in Latin America with records storage and document management, data protection, secure destruction and digital formatting services.