PERS provider acquires two

BALA CYNWYD, Pa.—Connect America, a large provider of PERS products, recently announced two acquisitions through its Healthcare Division; Racine's Medical Alert, based in La Junta, Co., and Spirit Homecare's Medical Alert Division, located near Des Moines, Iowa.

“We acquire…  local providers that really have a regional reach and the opportunity to grow those businesses by cultivating referral sources in the geography where they operate,” Richard Brooks, president of Connect America's Healthcare Division, told Security Systems News.

By acquiring Racine's Medical Alert, Connect America's Healthcare Division expands into Colorado. The company will continue to use it's Racine's brand.

Brooks said that the purchase of Spirit Homecare's Medical Alert Division opens the company's opportunities in the Des Moines. This division will fold into Connect America's network in the Des Moines area.

These acquisitions complement the company's July acquisition of Home Buddy, based in Kansas, Brooks said.

Brooks described the company's approach to incorporating acquired businesses, “We enhance the sales and marketing operation, we take some of the back office functions and move them to our headquarters, and emphasize a sales effort on a local basis.”

Connect America's Healthcare Division has finalized four acquisitions in the past 12 months and expects a similar rate for the next year, according to Brooks.

The Healthcare Division grows both organically and through acquisition; 70 percent of the division's growth comes organically and 30 percent is through acquisitions. The company did not announce the number of subscribers included in the deal.