Mechanicsburg firm acquires N.H. company

A Mechanicsburg dealer in high-tech equipment has bought the assets of the New Hampshire company whose products it distributed.

Mechanicsburg-based Dardick Technical Services formed a new corporation, Darcom Technologies Inc., and acquired the assets of Nashua, N.H.-based Dynatech Wireless Technologies Inc., on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Dynatech Wireless was a subsidiary of Burlington, Mass.-based Dynatech Corp., a global supplier of high-technology, communications equipment.

Dardick was a dealer/distributor for Dynatech Wireless.

Steve Dardick, chairman and CEO of Darcom, would not disclose the terms of the sale. The NASDAQ-traded company is not required to disclose details of the deal, according to Steven Cantor, manager of corporate communications at Dynatech.

Dynatech Wireless manufactured and sold wireless communications equipment, including the equipment found in headsets worn by drive- through attendants at fast-food restaurants.

About three years ago, Dynatech Wireless introduced a product used by nurses, who communicate with each other through a small radio worn on a belt. A speaker microphone is attached to the collar of uniforms. This communications system is available in 90 hospitals, including Johns Hopkins Bay View Medical Center in Baltimore.

Dynatech began to restructure its operations in April 1994, and wanted to concentrate on its communications-testing equipment and industrial-computer products. So it started to divest more than 25 of its operations.

Dyantech separated the businesses it was selling from its core operations, its sales for the second quarter were at $85.7 million, up 25 percent from $68.5 million a year earlier.

Dynatech's selloff, expected to end in March 1997, proved to be a gain for Dardick.

"We saw this as a great opportunity because we are familiar with the marketplace, and we have been the sole installer of the hospital systems for the past one and a half years," Dardick said. He plans to expand his market to large retail operations, warehouses and nursing homes.

Darcom will have its headquarters in Nashua, and three of Dardick's principals will operate the new company. Besides CEO Dardick, his son, D. Scott, will serve as president and chief operating officer and another son, Thomas M., will serve as executive vice president.

Meanwhile, the former Dardick office at 4902 Carlisle Pike will continue to operate as a sales office under the new Darcom name. The two employees who worked for Dardick will continue to work out of this office.