Amherst Alarm acquires in New York

AMHERST, N.Y.—Amherst Alarm, a full service security company based here, gained 8,000 accounts with its purchase of Eastern States Sentinel Alarm Service of West Seneca, N.Y., the company announced today.

“The owner of Eastern States, Nancy Saad, and I have had a very friendly competitor relationship over the past several years, where we would help each other out on certain things and different projects,” Tim Creenan, CEO of Amherst Alarm, told Security Systems News. “It came time where she made a decision that she wanted to retire and we were the natural choice for her to consider.”

This deal brings Amherst to a total customer base of just under 35,000 monitored accounts, Creenan said. He estimated that Eastern's account base is about 50 percent residential and 50 percent commercial, “very similar” to Amherst's customer base. The purchase was announced to employees in March.

“I think what's made it very compatible is that we're very similar in our product lines that we've used over the years—similar vendors, similar processes and things like that. So, it makes it very easy for our combined company, and the staff, to service either one of the customers from the different databases.”

Geographically, the two companies have overlap in the Buffalo, N.Y., area and Western New York. Though, Eastern States had a concentration of customers in the Syracuse, N.Y., area, Creenan noted.

Creenan said that Amherst offered employment to all Eastern States employees, and 12 will be joining the company, including in sales, service, and installation roles. Amherst has about 70 employees total, following the deal.

“We're always looking for opportunities and sometimes they appear very quickly,” Creenan said. This is the company's 10th purchase since it started in 1984.

"Amherst Alarm's commitment to technology and all the conveniences this brings to customers will be an enormous new boost for our clients," Saad, president of Eastern States Sentinel Alarm Services, said in a prepared statement. "Amherst Alarm was the ideal fit for both our clients and staff."

The combined company will be under the Amherst Alarm umbrella, according to the announcement, operating out of Amherst Alarm's headquarters.

Amherst Alarm, a family-owned company, offers both residential and commercial security systems, monitoring, commercial security services including fire alarm systems, CCTV systems, and ANET secure monitoring. The company also offers other services, including environmental monitoring systems, audio and video home automation systems, home theater, central vacuum systems, and medical alert and response systems.