Earlier this week, British Gas and AlertMe announced a new partnership, estimated to be worth over $100 million. According to the press announcement, the deal will create the UK’s leading connected homes provider by bringing together British Gas’ ability to innovate for mass market consumers with AlertMe’s next generation Internet of Things technology and expertise. The acquisition will also create a highly experienced and fully integrated team to accelerate the development of new connected home services in the UK and worldwide.

Last year’s launch of the Omnia platform gave AlertMe a highly differentiated platform to grow the smart home market. Adding the financial resources and market reach of British Gas puts the combined team in a great position to take a big share of the rapidly growing smart home market.

This acquisition is also interesting because it shows that energy providers are investing in the smart home in a big way. British Gas’s Hive solution, like many utility smart home solutions, is energy focused. This acquisition shows that British Gas is interested in extending their solution to include a much broader offering. Retail energy providers in Europe are far ahead of the U.S. retail energy providers in providing smart home solutions. This acquisition extends that lead.