LifeShield acquired by Hawk Capital Partners

LANGHORNE, Pa.—LifeShield, a DIY installed and professionally monitored security solution, was acquired by Hawk Capital Partners, the firm announced on July 27.

Hawk Capital appointed David Tanzer as the company's CEO. “My previous experience involved working in several other sectors where direct-to-consumer customer acquisition was critical to the success of the company,” he told Security Systems News. Tanzer served as either the president or CEO for The Noodle Companies, GT Brands and Primedia Consumer Magazines.

LifeSheild's sale to Hawk Capital Partners was finalized in May, according to Tanzer.

Mike Hagan, the managing partner of Hawk, was previously part-owner of LifeShield until its 2013 sale to DIRECTV. “After AT&T acquired DIRECTV and decided to divest LifeShield, I leapt at the opportunity to own this great technology and brand once again,” Hagan said in a prepared statement.

DIRECTV tripled LifeShield's subscribers during its ownership, Hagan noted in the announcement, partly due to bundling LifeShield with DIRECTV's other offerings.

Following the acquisition, digital marketing, search engine marketing and marketing partnerships will be main channels for the company's growth, Tanzer said.

LifeShield does not currently have a dealer network, but “it is something we are in the process of building,” Tanzer said. “Though it's self-installable, some customers would like, and would pay for, installation by a professional installer. And, we're interested to use dealers as an additional sales—as well as installation—channel.”

The company will test its dealer model in the next few months and would roll it out in 2018, said Tanzer. LifeShield is also finalizing testing an integration with Z-Wave home automation devices, which it plans to go live with in a few months, he said.

Asked about LifeShield's differentiators, Tanzer pointed to the company's Fire Safety Sensor, which can detect sounds from other smoke or carbon monoxide alarms. “Our Fire Safety Sensor allows any household to be turned into [one with a] monitored smoke detector system,” Tanzer said.

LifeShield also stands out with its Quadruple Defense, Tanzer said; using four communication paths—Internet, cell, text and landline—to the central station. LifeSheild uses CMS for its professional monitoring.