News

A sit down with Fred Wich, member of Efmark-Bantek's executive committee

More than three months after Efmark and Bantek announced plans to merge, the two companies are still ironing out details. As a member of the merged companies' executive committee, Fred Wich talks about what the companies have accomplished and the work that lies ahead.

April 24, 2006

"We're taking a very measured, systematic approach," Fred Wich, the former vice chairman of Bantek West Inc., told ATMmarketplace earlier this month. Wich is now a member of the executive committee charged with overseeing the new Efmark-Bantek entity.

Working alongside Mark Hoppe, the former chairman and chief executive of Efmark Premium Armored Services, and Lief Houkom, Bantek's former president and CEO, Wich said the executive committee is taking its time with the merged company's move forward.

Fred Wich serves on the executive committee of the new Efmark-Bantek entity.

Efmark and Bantek announced plans to merge Jan. 4. The new company, which is expected to assume a new name - something other than Efmark-Bantek - compromises a national footprint of 75 armored branches in 43 states and a workforce that exceeds 2,500 employees. The new company also serves more than 65,000 ATMs, making it the United States' largest independent ATM service provider.

"We're spending all of our time on the various structures of each of the areas. … We are looking to pick the best athlete, if you will, for each of the (leading) positions, and that has taken a fair amount of time. We want to be sure we get the right people in the right spots."

How many leadership positions is the executive committee charged with filling? Around 200, Wich said, given the new company's size and geographic reach.

"It's likely that we're going to merge all operating entities into a single entity under the holding company," he said. "I would think that would happen over the next three months. … The organizational structure is in place now. We're 90 percent there. We expect to have (everything) integrated in the next three to four months."

And fully integrating the two companies has been, well, time consuming and laborious, Wich said. So far, the executive committee has filled most of the company's leadership roles. Wich now expects assimilation to progress at a faster rate.

A snapshot

• The armored business: "On the armored side, we're pretty much organizationally in place," Wich said. The armored division, which will be led by Tom Szczepanski, is now split into six regions. And most of the managers who will oversee each of the company's 75 armored branches have been named and/or hired.
• Technical services: Tony Manno has been charged with overseeing the day-to-day operations of the technical services business. Three district managers and eight regional managers will work under Manno.
• Customer service: "We have not made changes relating to who the customers are dealing with," Wich said. "We would want to maintain that principal. Right now, the two companies handle customer service in different ways, but we are working on that. … Our customer service people and salespeople are going to be generalists - we want them to be the single point of contact for the customer."

What's Important The new Efmark-Bantek entity serves more than 65,000 ATMs in 43 states. The company's workforce exceeds 2,500 employees. And the armored business now has 75 branch offices.

Robert Malik is heading the company sales group, which consists of a pool of generalists, Wich said. The company's total sales force is expected to be just shy of 40 employees.

Looking ahead, Wich said the two companies' philosophies have not been lost - only tweaked.

"We are combining two extremely entrepreneurial and aggressive companies," he said. "We're not as tied to one particular way of doing business, because we haven't been around for 100 or 150 years. We're able to think outside the box, at least more than some of our competitors. We drop costs and still make good margins."