'This should prove our credibility'

ATLANTA - Graham-Field finished off 2007 with a bang, announcing Dec. 31 that it had acquired Lumiscope, a medical equipment manufacturer that does a lot of business with Wal-Mart, Walgreens and other national chains. "This should prove our credibility in terms of financial stability," said Ken Spett, senior vice president of G-F's Medical Surgical Division. "We have the cash now to go about making some significant acquisitions, and we are looking at several others." Lumiscope brings to G-F more than significant business with large drug chains and mass marketers. The deal includes a familiar product line (electrotherapy units, nebulizers, blood-pressure monitors, thermometers and orthopedic supports, for example), additional U.S. manufacturing capability and efficiencies that come from consolidating administrative and operational expenses, Spett said. For HME providers, the deal boosts G-F's product offering, making the company more attractive as a one-stop shop for medical equipment. That's important as providers attempt to consolidate purchasing to reduce paperwork and meet minimums for free shipping, Spett said. Lumiscope, based in Piscataway, N.J., will transition its customer service, quality assurance, engineering, technical support and repair departments, warehousing and manufacturing to G-F's existing East Rutherford, N.J., complex. By combining Lumiscope's textile manufacturing operation with G-F factories in Rhode Island and Wisconsin (steel), G-F can now offer more high quality items and produce them faster than comparable items made oversees and exported to the United States, Spett said. "This acquisition also gives us the ability to have some harder to find, low volume items that you can't get overseas unless you are going to buy 50,000 of them," he said. Spett declined to disclose how much G-F paid for Lumiscope.