RJE Technologies has purchased Terrapin Communications’ Safety Turtle product line. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2000, RJE Technologies manufactures the SonarGuard Pool Security and AquaGuard pool alarms. The firm, a wholly owned subsidiary of Irvine, Calif.-based RJE International, also supplies sonar-based navigation equipment to the military and underwater locator beacons for aircraft black boxes.
Ottawa, Canada-based Terrapin Communications introduced the Safety Turtle line of personal immersion alarms in 1998. Today, the series includes the Safety Turtle Child Alarm, the Pet Pool Alarm, Wireless Gate Alarm and the SOS adult/ “man overboard” alarm used for commercial applications.
“The Safety Turtle product … complements our products very well,” said RJE President Robert Jechart. “We like the product and what it’s all about. We look forward to the future with the line. We want to have an impact on the problem of drowning. That’s really the end game.”
As part of the deal, the Safety Turtle line is being integrated into RJE’s California operations. Terrapin Communications co-founder and President Bob Lyons will serve as a consultant to RJE. “[Bob] is a great person and we want to harness his knowledge and expertise,” Jechart said.
Lyons, who was seeking a proactive exit strategy, said he was interested in the life-saving proposition of selling the products and believed RJE was a suitable company to carry on his mission of promoting drowning awareness and education.
“Merging the product lines and putting them under one roof has a lot of business potential and drowning prevention potential,” Lyons said. “The whole exceeds the sum of the parts.”
With this business plan, RJE hopes to grow its presence and outreach and offer vertical products for additional niche markets. This includes investing in engineering to develop new models and customized items, Jechart explained.
“We are always looking for opportunities, and we are definitely on a growth plan to build out our products,” he added. “It was a real passion for the cause that drove us to come up with better products to minimize drownings.”
The two safety advocates first met in 2004 while working on the American Society for Testing and Materials committee to draft the standard on pool alarms, and have collaborated on drowning prevention since. Most recently, they gave a presentation at the 2011 National Drowning Prevention Alliance Symposium. This year’s symposium takes place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 13-16. For more information, visit www.NDPA.org.
