Private equity firm acquires LogicMark

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill.—Private equity firm Generation3 Capital has entered the PERS arena by acquiring LogicMark, a designer and manufacturer of medical alarm systems, with former Honeywell Security Group executives Ben Cornett and Kevin O'Connor named to lead the company.

Generation3 (Gen3) teamed with Promus Equity Partners on the acquisition, which was completed Dec. 30. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Jim Coleman, principal of Gen3, based here, said LogicMark's record of strong growth and its innovative product line attracted the investment company. LogicMark, based in Fairfax Station, Va., makes three PERS (personal emergency response system) devices: Guardian Alert 911, Freedom Alert and Life Sentry. All three provide two-way voice communication and can be worn as pendants.

“We had targeted the PERS market for an acquisition,” Coleman told Security Systems News, adding that the deal took about seven months to complete. “We like the growth of the (senior) demographic and how the product positions in that space.”

The PERS market also attracted Cornett and O'Connor, who previously served as president and vice president of global sales, respectively, of Honeywell Security Group. Cornett is the new CEO of LogicMark, and O'Connor is president. Company founder Mark Gottlieb will stay on board as chief creative officer, Gen3 said in a statement.

Cornett and O'Connor most recently have been involved with EZWatch-Pro, a Gen3 company that markets video surveillance systems. Cornett will remain as CEO of EZWatch-Pro while O'Connor, who was vice president of sales and marketing, will now focus solely on LogicMark and the expanding world of PERS.

“It's a business segment that has tremendous opportunity,” Cornett said. “The aging population is certainly a big part of it, and we think it's an area that has tremendous upside. [LogicMark] has great technology, they have great people running the organization, their customer service levels are just really, really outstanding, and that's why we chose this company.”

O'Connor said LogicMark grew by 35 percent in 2011, and the company has “aggressive projections” for 2012 and beyond.

“It's really a matter of growing both in the durable medical market and the security market as well,” he said. “From a technology standpoint, the one advantage that LogicMark brings to the market is the two-way voice built into the [PERS] pendant. … A lot of security dealers are starting to use the product and are building PERS into their marketing plans.”

O'Connor said LogicMark will be rolling out a mobile PERS product at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, being held Jan. 10-13.

“It will be a GSM with GPS tracking,” he said. “We're going to be at the CES show [this] week and will introduce it there, and the product will launch later in the first quarter.”