Nice Consolidates Nortek's North American Operations Under Own Brand

Italian automation company Nice is consolidating all Nortek essential operations in the U.S. under the Nice brand following its purchase of Nortek Control last fall for $285 million (see 2110130059), it said Wednesday. It will position Nice as one of the largest single-source manufacturers of smart home and building automation in the North American market, said the company. Integrators, dealers and distribution partners will benefit from “access to greater opportunities with a broader solutions portfolio of integrated smart and connected products,” it said. Nortek’s 2Gig, Elan, Linear, Mighty Mule, SpeakerCraft, Proficient, Furman, Panamax, Gefen, Numera, Intellivision, Abode and HySecurity brands “will continue to go to market as brands of Nice” but under their existing brands, it said. “The newly enlarged and strengthened presence of Nice North America further reinforces our commitment to our partners, customers, and the channel,” said Nice North America CEO Edoardo Malfe. The larger portfolio created by Nice acquisitions enables delivery of "solutions to partners and end-users from a single-source provider of a full suite of integrated solutions for residential, commercial, industrial and government customers, from consumer DIY to custom and professionally-installed specialized products and high-security applications,” Malfe said. Among the executive changes announced Wednesday, Paul Williams, formerly with GE Lighting, joined Nice as chief product officer, and Lisa Potok, former Newegg finance vice president, was named chief financial officer. Luca Longhin, who was president of HySecurity, Abode and Nice Canada, was named deputy CEO-Nice North America. Internally promoted were Amanda Repp to chief people and diversity officer, a new role; Jim Hardiman to general manager-China Innovation Center; Jari Niemela to chief technology officer; Craig Copley to chief information officer; Mark Burson to chief marketing officer; and Daniel Schatz to general counsel, the company said. No brands were discontinued in the consolidation, and no positions have been eliminated to date, a spokeswoman emailed.