Quantum Rehab has acquired complex rehab seating & positioning manufacturer Stealth Products.

In a May 12 announcement of the deal, Quantum Rehab said the Stealth Products management team would remain in place and that the company “will continue operating independently.”

Stealth is known in the industry for its seating & positioning products designed for wheelchair users with extremely complex needs. The manufacturer designs and creates components for pelvic, trunk, upper- and lower-extremity and head support. Those components are engineered to be compatible with the seating systems and mobility bases from a long list of manufacturers.

Stealth, based in Burnet, Texas, also manufactures power wheelchair drive controls and stroller-style dependent mobility bases.

Quantum Rehab is the complex rehab technology division of Pride Mobility Products, based in Exeter, Pa.

Asked about the reasoning behind the acquisition, Jay Brislin, VP of Quantum Rehab, told Mobility Management, “Quantum Rehab and Stealth Products have taken very similar paths in the rehab industry, with each company beginning around 1999-2000. Both companies share the same vision of continuous innovation of products and services to enhance the customer experience.

“Stealth has become the leader within the industry in regards to seating and positioning components, and is quickly becoming the leader in alternative drive, environmental, and client access controls. When you take into account our long-standing, strong partnership with Stealth over the years, their vast, high-quality, customer-focused products, and our continued advancement in the Group 3 power base and power positioning market, the match is perfect.”

In an interview with Mobility Management, Stealth Director of Sales & Marketing Gabriel Romero said that the company would continue to create components that would fit not just Quantum Rehab products, but seating & mobility systems from a range of manufacturers.

In fact, Romero said, Quantum Rehab believes that maintaining that sort of industry-wide compatibility is critical.

“They emphasized that it was important for us to still design and manufacture for other manufacturers and be sure that our brand stays as true as it can,” Romero noted. “At the end of the day, that was the most important thing for us, to stay true to what Stealth Products is, which is a solutions company. It was nice to see that from the very top, from (Pride Mobility Chairman/CEO) Scott Meuser. That was important.”

“The nice thing about it is of course we’ll have an inside track on future [Quantum Rehab] designs for our components,” Romero added.

“Stealth’s products are readily used and highly respected throughout the industry,” Brislin confirmed. “They put a ton of market feedback and thought into all of their products, which is evident when you see their vast positive client outcomes. We feel that it is very important to ensure that all customers continue to have the same access to all of Stealth’s product offerings, not the least of which is because of how they vastly improve a client’s function and overall quality of life.”

Stealth will also retain autonomy in deciding the types of products to develop in the future, Romero said.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job in getting that feedback from the industry, from different manufacturers, from therapists, from ATPs,” Romero said. “We definitely want to continue on with that connection.”

Stealth, meanwhile, will benefit from the acquisition in a number of ways, Romero explained: “Call it horsepower, call it the ability to design quicker. Of course, you have the funding of a larger company supporting you, new opportunities in different countries, new opportunities in relationships that they have domestically, organizations that they’re a part of: ALS, MS, MDA, VA.”

“Although Stealth and Quantum will continue to operate independently,” Brislin added, “we do see numerous opportunities to advance the overall customer experience, such as product development collaboration, innovative rehab accessories, educational advancements, dual marketing ventures, increased custom mobility applications, pediatric product advancements, and IT system advancements and efficiency gains, to name a few.”

And as for curiosity regarding another Quantum Rehab acquisition – the company purchased pediatric rehab manufacturer KIDS Up in 2011 – Brislin said, “Pediatric seating and positioning is certainly one of the categories that the Stealth team is very strong in. It makes sense to explore the new heights that Stealth may be able to take the KIDS Up product line given their expertise.”