Ameritech Corp, Chicago said on Friday that it is in acquisition talks with several European security monitoring companies, and that the deals would be worth $200m to $500m each. There are some serious negotiations going on, Ameritech’s international affairs director Dennis LaComb told Reuters, adding that the company, hardly the most visible of the Baby Bells in Europe, wants to double its current $4bn European investments over the next few years. The company has built up a portfolio of security monitoring companies back home that use phone lines for applications such as linking customers’ home alarm systems to police stations, turning itself by acquisition into the second biggest in the business, and it wants to do the same in Europe. First deals are likely to be in Germany and France, although the company is also looking Scandinavian firms and is considering the UK, LaComb said.
