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William J. Lynch Appointed CEO of Savant Systems

phpRR19m0PMHyannis, MA – January 28, 2014 – Today, Savant Systems, LLC, a leader in smart home products and technology, announced William J. Lynch has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Robert Madonna, the company’s founder and CEO since 2005 will continue to help steer Savant’s innovation in his ongoing role as the Chairman of the Board.

Savant Systems has seen rapid business growth as smart home technology continues to penetrate the luxury residential market.  The company provides homeowners seamless, simple and reliable management of “the internet of things” within their home, easily controlled on their iOS and Android devices.  The center of the Smart Home, Savant technology enables management of appliances, home theater, music, security, thermostat, lights, energy management, automated shades and more – from anywhere.

Lynch’s appointment comes at a time when the company is expanding beyond its well-established high-end residential market leadership, for the first time ever offering mass market consumers the ability to deploy a Savant Smart Home previously available only to the wealthy. The company recently announced a highly anticipated new system, launching this spring, that leverages its proven technology to bring smart features and the Savant experience to a broader audience. The new system will be offered through Savant’s dealer network (comprising 1,500 authorized dealers and retail outlets spanning 35 countries). According to MarketsandMarkets, the value of home automation and controls market is projected to grow to $48.0B by 2018 from $19.1B in 2012.

“To take the innovative Smart Home platform the Savant team has built and refined over eight years, and be able to offer to a broader consumer audience for the first time is an incredible opportunity,” said William J. Lynch, CEO of Savant Systems. “Until now, the business has been concentrated in the luxury housing market. Starting this spring, we’re delighted to be able to offer incredible home automation, built upon the rigorous engineering principles that Savant established and continues to uphold, to the mass market. We look forward to working with our valued dealers to bring Savant Smart homes to millions of consumers. It’s an exciting time to be joining the company.”

Lynch, the former CEO of Barnes & Noble, transformed the bookseller into the leading retailer of content, digital media and reading devices. Lynch was responsible for leading the creation of the critically acclaimed NOOK devices and software and brought them to the consumer market. Under his leadership, Barnes & Noble introduced many award-winning, popular devices, including the world’s first Android color tablet and the first commercially successful touch eReader. During his tenure, more than 10 million devices were sold and the company achieved a strong share of the U.S. eBook and digital magazine market.  Prior to Barnes & Noble, Lynch held leadership and executive positions at HSNi, IAC, and Palm Computing.

“We have always strived to take the complexity out of the smart home, offering the best technology and the highest-quality products. We’ve established leadership in the high-end residential segment, and will offer the same Savant quality experience to create smart homes in the broader market,” said Robert Madonna, Chairman of Savant Systems. “William’s history of success with breakthrough product innovation, and his proven ability to connect consumers with sophisticated, yet easy-to-use technology in a meaningful way, make him ideally suited to lead Savant Systems through this period of unprecedented opportunity and tremendous growth.”

Madonna is a successful technology entrepreneur whose first company, Excel Switching Inc., a provider of software and hardware technology solutions, helped change the telecommunications industry. The company went public in 1997 and was acquired by Lucent Technologies Inc. for $1.7B in stock in 1999.

A pioneer in automated systems, Savant Systems also offers connected technology offerings across a broad range of commercial sectors including enterprise, retail, education, arenas, government, hospitality and luxury transportation.

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