Motorola completes historic deal to acquire Vancouver surveillance company Avigilon

Last month, the Straight reported that technology giant Motorola had reached an agreement to buy local surveillance company Avigilon for around $1 billion.

Today, the historic deal has been completed.

All the issued and outstanding common shares of Avigilon have now been acquired by the Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, at a rate of $27 per share. All the shares are expected to be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange by the close of trading on or about April 2, when Avigilon will apply to cease to be a reporting issuer in all provinces of Canada.

As one of only three acquisitions of its size to take place in the country over the last decade, the deal represents a significant moment for Canada, and for Vancouver. The city is now home to three of the country’s five tech startups valued at more than $1 billion—known colloquially as “unicorns”—and is currently ranked as the 15^th best startup ecosystem in the world.

The deal will allow Avigilon to develop its technology further. Currently, the company designs and manufactures surveillance cameras, creates software and hardware to analyze and manage video footage, and builds technology that controls who accesses a location. Its clients include airports, banks, and public transit companies.

To coincide with the Motorola deal, Avigilon has announced a new enhancement to the appearance search function of its technology. Able to identify certain physical descriptions—like hair, clothing colour, gender, and age—Avigilon lets users look through video footage to find a person of interest. The feature aims to help create safer cities, schools, hospitals, and stadiums by accurately detecting suspects within seconds, and improve incident response times.   

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