NORTH SIOUX CITY — When one company buys another, the acquisition is often accompanied by layoffs as the services of the two companies are consolidated.
So executives at the former Vanguard Sciences were thrilled when they learned that their acquisition by Geneva, Switzerland-based SGS will result in more jobs at the North Sioux City-based laboratories.
"A lot of times in acquisitions people get let go. We're still hiring. For SGS, they wanted our proven capability to expand in the U.S.," said John Hayes, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Vanguard, which since Feb. 1 has operated under its new name: SGS Vanguard Sciences.
SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, completed the acquisition on Jan. 1. SGS has more than 92,000 employees globally, and Vanguard has 95 at its two laboratories in North Sioux City and Oklahoma City.
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Hayes said it's not yet known how many jobs will be added in North Sioux City. The business deal is leading to more work for Vanguard because SGS is bringing new clients and new types of testing to be added to Vanguard's microbiology testing lab, which tests products such as food, feed, grains and animal food.
"A result of the acquisition was more volume coming our way," Hayes said.
Phyllis Antonacci, president and CEO of Vanguard Sciences, and Hayes, both veterans of the food service industry, started Vanguard a decade ago and built the company from scratch. They told the Journal in January that their talks with SGS started three years ago when they initially reached out to the larger firm to see about sharing resources.
At the time, SGS lacked a food testing lab in the United States, and Vanguard’s own chemical lab was limited in some areas.
During those discussions, the Vanguard team said they realized SGS was similar to their company in many ways and thought the cultures would mesh well, while they think SGS officials were intrigued by their burgeoning client list and overall quality of service.
Antonacci said SGS is aggressively expanding in the United States and liked Vanguard's operation platform so much, the company plans to use it as a model for new labs it is opening.
"They wanted our people and all that they can do," Antonacci said. "They want us to continue to run this business and help set up the other ones just the same."
Hayes and Antonacci both relocated from the Chicago area to launch Vanguard, which previously was known as Aegis Food Testing Laboratories.
Both knew the company had high growth potential and that they would sell it someday.
However, they wanted to make sure the buyers were the right fit and that they would keep the business in Siouxland as a way of thanking the region for its support.
"North Sioux City and the Siouxland area have been very good to us and we're very appreciative of that. It's a great place to do business," Hayes said.
