A Florida company that until a year ago specialized in concrete manufacturing and facility construction has won a bidding process to acquire Adelphia Communication Corp.’s security services division. Devcon Int’l Corp., through its recently formed Devcon Security Services Corp. (DSS), will pay $42.8 million to purchase Adelphia’s Starpoint Limited Partnership alarm installation and monitoring services.

Adelphia, also known for is cable television business, has been selling off its assets under a 2002 bankruptcy filing. The sale of the security business, which covers customers in Florida and New York, will still require the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York and is expected to close by the end of February.

The acquisition includes a monitoring center in Naples, Fla., as well as several sales and service offices. In the acquisition, DSS will go from 5,000 monitored customers to 62,000 and add 180 employees to its 20-person worker base.

Devcon – previously a manufacturer of concrete products and builder of golf courses and marine facilities – entered the security business last July by acquiring alarm company Security Equipment Company Inc. of Panama City, Fla.

The man leading Devcon’s security efforts is no stranger to the alarm industry. Steven Ruzika, president of ADT Security from 1989 to 1997, is president of DSS and co-president of Devcon Int’l. In a statement, Ruzika, who joined Devcon in July, says the Adelphia acquisition will immediately make Devcon a major player in the southeast security market.

“We are optimistic that DSS will benefit from an increased market presence as a result of this platform acquisition,” Ruzika says.

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