Health Watch bought for $130m

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recently announced that Philips will acquire Health Watch, a US-based, privately held provider of personal emergency response services, for approximately $130m in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2007.

According to a statement, the acquisition of Health Watch represents a further step for Philips in building up its presence in the consumer healthcare market.

Health Watch will add over 100,000 US customers to Philips Lifeline’s existing base of more than a half a million subscribers in North America. The deal will also increase the number of healthcare organisations and healthcare referral sources in the Philips Lifeline network.

Philips Lifeline’s and Health Watch’s twenty-four hour a day services give independently minded senior citizens the confidence to maintain an active life at home. If they require help, they can send an alert to a monitoring centre indicating they need assistance. Two-way communication allows an operator to establish the nature of the problem so that appropriate action can be taken.