American Alarm and Communications acquired Atlas Alarm Corp. of Weymouth, Mass., a fire alarm and life-safety systems company in the greater Boston area. The combined company will operate as American Alarm with $40 million in annual revenue projected for 2017.

“This is an important milestone for both companies,” said Wells Sampson, president of American Alarm. “We are bringing together two great teams with complementary technical capabilities and a shared commitment to business ethics and customer service.”

Sampson described the acquisition as part of the company’s continuing plan to grow in New England, both by acquisition and through organic growth.

Sampson added, “Atlas’s expertise and specialization in fire alarm and life-safety systems strengthens our capabilities in those areas, and American Alarm’s expertise in intrusion, video surveillance, access control and managed services enhances the capabilities of the Atlas team.”

The acquisition was a great fit for American Alarm’s strategic growth plan, Wells said, and the time was right for the Rich family to execute a transition plan.

Established in 1945 by Michael F. Rich, Atlas Alarm remained family owned and grew to 53 employees who today serve 3,000 customers in eastern Massachusetts, including residential, commercial, institutional and government facilities. “American Alarm is the right partner for us,” said Michael J. Rich, son of the founder and president of Atlas Alarm. “We’ve known the Sampson family for many years and we know that American Alarm is a quality company. By blending our expertise, our customers will benefit.”

Atlas Alarm’s largest concentration of customers is in Boston where it provides fire alarm and life-safety system installation, test, inspection and monitoring services for more than 600 accounts. The remainder of the Atlas customer base stretches through the communities on the south shore of Massachusetts. The Atlas Alarm headquarters on Washington Street in Weymouth will remain open and over time will be re-branded as an American Alarm branch.

“Geography is a big aspect,” said Wells Sampson. “If you look at a map of southeastern New England, the Atlas location and customer base fits our presence like a puzzle piece. We have branches in metro Boston, central Massachusetts and in Manchester, N.H., to serve the north shore and into southern New Hampshire. And we cover Rhode Island from Warwick with our Electronic Alarms division. Now with the Atlas location we have an increased presence south of Boston, all the way to Cape Cod to serve our customers.”

Louis Sampson, CFO at American Alarm, said, “We are committed to the community of Weymouth and plan to invest in the location, updating systems and adding staff to accommodate growth. The Atlas team remains in place, and together we look forward to providing comprehensive security services for all of our customers.” 

Founded in 1971 by three engineers who met at MIT, American Alarm is a family-owned business now led by the second generation of the Sampson family. The company is a comprehensive security systems integration and monitoring firm providing intrusion, fire, access control, video surveillance, environmental hazard and building automation systems. With the acquisition of Atlas, the American Alarm group of companies grows to 260 employees in six locations: Arlington, Auburn, Randolph and Weymouth, Mass.; Warwick, R.I.; and Manchester, N.H. 

American Alarm systems protect all classes of property, from single-family homes to businesses large and small, to major public and historic venues across New England. Among the company’s 28,000 customers are 465 bank branches, 329 public school buildings in 26 communities, 73 hospitals, 644 manufacturing companies (many high-tech and biotech firms) 436 government buildings and approximately 14,000 homes.

“Today we have 100 licensed systems technicians on the road serving customers in New England,” Wells Sampson said. “We invest in people, and actually over-staff by industry standards, because we are serious about security and want the talent on board in our monitoring center and in the field to respond quickly to customer needs.” 

Atlas Alarm is the second acquisition American Alarm has completed in the past six months. In September 2016 the company acquired Electralarm Security Systems which served 500 residential and commercial customers in the greater Abington, Mass., area. These two acquisitions in southeastern Massachusetts strengthen American Alarm’s presence throughout the greater Boston region, with operations north, west, and south of the city, in addition to the headquarters and 24-hour command center in Arlington.

Regarding Atlas management, Wells Sampson said, “Some managers are retiring and we have already promoted several Atlas employees to fill those management roles. We have also brought in a seasoned manager, Peter Kazarian, to become general manager of the Weymouth branch.”

He added that all Atlas employees who want to remain with the company have been retained. “It’s a talented group, and we want to grow the service, installation and sales functions there. We have plenty of room to expand in the Weymouth facility.”