Installs Inc. LLC of Buffalo, N.Y., has acquired AmeriLink Corp., a New Albany-based electronics-installation subsidiary of RadioShack Corp.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AmeriLink, which specializes in satellite and cable television systems, employs 240 from 40 field offices. As part of the transaction, Installs entered into a four-year service agreement to continue installing television systems for RadioShack's customers across the country.
Installs plans to grow AmeriLink's business, said Chairman Lee Hess. It will refocus AmeriLink on its original business - installing cable.
Installs employs about 130 workers and has a network of around 5,000 installation contractors, Hess said. He did not disclose revenue figures for either company.
AmeriLink will remain in the Central Ohio area, Hess said, although perhaps not in New Albany. AmeriLink has two Central Ohio offices, its New Albany headquarters and a Columbus branch office.
Some of the combined company's operations will be shuffled between New Albany and Buffalo. Human resources will probably move to Columbus, as well as cable installation operations.
AmeriLink General Manager Fred Walkover will remain with Installs as a vice president, Hess said.
"Probably, when it shakes out, it'll be pretty neutral for Columbus," Hess said.
Installs said the acquisition will combine two of the nation's largest providers of in-home electronics-installation services. Installs specializes in home theaters.
Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack bought AmeriLink in 1999 but the division has "incurred operating losses and negative cash flows," according to RadioShack's most recent year-end statement filed in March with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It has taken $37 million in charges to write down the value of AmeriLink.
Hess said Installs' complementary business and efficient technology is expected to help make AmeriLink a profitable concern.
Amerilink was founded in 1971 by Len Gibson and Bob Powelson, both of whom had cable-installation firms. The company went public in 1994.
Installs is 50 percent owned by Genstar Capital Partners III LP, a San Francisco-based investment firm, with the rest owned by management. Hess is based in Columbus.
AmeriLink does business as RadioShack Installation Services.
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