Description
Brink's is an American private security and protection company headquartered outside Richmond, Virginia. Its core business is Brink's Inc.; its sister brand Brink's Home Security company operates separately and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. In 2013, its international network served customers in more than 100 countries and employed approximately 134,000 people. Operations include approximately 1,100 facilities, and 13,300 vehicles. The company emerged from the Pittston Company and changed its name to the Brink's Company in 2003.
Operations
Brink's is popularly known for its bullet-resistant armored trucks which carry money and valuable goods (once used to transport the Hope Diamond from an auction to the buyer's home). Brink's is a provider of security services to banks, retailers, governments, mints and jewelers. Founded in 1859 by Perry Brink of Chicago, Illinois, Brink's business evolved from local armored transportation services to providing corporate financial logistics and international secure transportation.
In 1962, Brink's was acquired by Pittston, a coal company. Burlington Air Express was acquired in 1982. Brink's Home Security was started in 1983. Pittston sold off its coal assets in the 2000s and renamed the company Brink's. The home security unit was also spun off.
A significant portion of Brink's business is conducted internationally, with 82% of $3.9 billion in revenues earned outside the United States in 2013. The majority of Brink's consolidated revenues in 2013 was earned in operations located in nine countries, each contributing in excess of $100 million of revenues. The 2013 revenues from these countries totaled $3.0 billion or 79% of consolidated revenues. These operations, in declining order of revenues, were the U.S., France, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, Colombia, Argentina and the Netherlands.
In January 2012, Brink's acquired Kheops, SAS, a provider of logistics software and related services in France, for approximately $17 million. This acquisition gave the company proprietary control of software used primarily in cash-in-transit and money processing operations in France.
On January 31, 2013, Brink's acquired Brazil-based Rede Transacoes Eletronicas Ltda. ("Redetrel") for approximately $26 million. Redetrel distributes electronic prepaid products, including mobile phone airtime, via a network of approximately 20,000 retail locations across Brazil. Redetrel's strong distribution network supplements Brink's existing payments business, ePago, which has operations in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Panama.
Brink's sold one of its core operations, BAX Global, a shipping company for U.S. $1.1 billion to Deutsche Bahn on January 31, 2006. BAX Global used to be known as Burlington Air Express.
Discontinued operations
In November 2010, Brink's former cash-in-transit (CIT) operations in Belgium filed for bankruptcy, after local union employees rejected a restructuring plan, and was placed in bankruptcy on February 2, 2011. Brink's deconsolidated the Belgium subsidiary in 2010. However in 2021 returned to Belgium and took over G4S's Cash Solutions division.
In 2012, Brink's agreed to sell its cash-in-transit operations in Germany and Poland, and event security operations in France, and the company completed the divestiture of its guarding operations in Morocco, in December 2012.
In May 2014, Brink's US decided to cease their cash-in-transit operations throughout Australia. Linfox Armaguard made an offer to purchase Brink's Australia's CIT operations, and Brink's is continuing their precious goods logistics business within Australia.
