Batesville Announces Acquisition of Software Solutions Provider HMIS, Inc
BATESVILLE, Indiana, September 28, 2012 – Batesville (NYSE:HI), the leading provider of burial, cremation and technology solutions to the funeral industry, today announced the company has acquired privately-held HMIS, Inc. of Merrimack, New Hampshire. Founded in 1987, HMIS is the leading back office and operations management technology system provider to funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories in the U.S., Canada and Central America, including many longtime Batesville customers. HMIS founder, Frank Hanlon, president, Mike Hanlon, and HMIS associates will become a part of Batesville Interactive, the company’s technology solutions business, providing a seamless transition for customers and business partners.
The acquisition aligns with Batesville’s long-term strategy of providing a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions that assist funeral professionals in providing meaningful funeral experiences for families, while helping them achieve their business goals.
“Technology is playing a more prominent role in the health of funeral homes and cemeteries, and this allows us to accelerate our growth as a trusted technology partner,” said Kim Dennis, president of Batesville.
Batesville Interactive has quickly become the number one provider of funeral home website solutions, with approximately 5,000 WebLink® and WebLink Custom websites and an expanding portfolio of exclusive e-commerce offerings. The acquisition combines Batesville’s leadership in web technologies and understanding of funeral home operations with HMIS’s twenty-five years of proven experience and expertise developing and supporting high performance enterprise software, creating a technology partner that will continue to drive innovation and deliver benefits to the industry.
“Batesville and HMIS share a common goal of providing a fully-integrated enterprise technology solution tailored to meet the needs of today’s funeral homes and cemeteries,” said Frank Hanlon, founder and CEO of HMIS, Inc. Hanlon has led HMIS since its inception and will continue to lead the efforts of the HMIS organization within Batesville Interactive for the next few years.
The HMIS technology will serve as the framework for Batesville to continue developing an integrated solution – connecting back office management with website and e-commerce offerings, and seamlessly integrating arrangement planning and product selection software. Batesville will adapt the HMIS platform, streamlining key elements of the system to create a new, more flexible solution that allows funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories of all sizes to benefit from the comprehensive capabilities of the HMIS software.
“Over the past twenty-five years, HMIS has consistently set the standard for business management software tailored to the unique needs of cemeteries, funeral homes and crematories,” said Jason Burlage, VP- Strategic Business Units for Batesville. “Their technical expertise and passion for serving customers is evident in the quality of their products and relationships. We feel fortunate to have them as part of the Batesville family.”
“Batesville’s relationships and expertise, especially with independent funeral homes, are unmatched,” stated Frank Hanlon. “Our synergies go far beyond shared customers and technologies, and there is no doubt we can do more for our customers as part of the Batesville organization than we ever could on our own,” says Hanlon.
The HMIS team will operate from its headquarters in Merrimack, NH, and will continue to support its current customer base with no interruptions in service, development or operations.
Batesville and HMIS will be exhibiting at the 2012 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) International Convention and Expo, October 8 – 10. Funeral professionals can stop by both companies’ booths to learn more.
ABOUT BATESVILLE
Batesville (www.batesville.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) is a leader in the North American death care industry through the sale of funeral service products, including burial caskets, cremation caskets, containers and urns, burial vaults, selection room display fixturing, technology solutions, and other personalization and memorialization products. For more than 125 years, Batesville has been dedicated to helping families honor the lives of those they love®. Our history of manufacturing excellence, product innovation, superior customer service and reliable delivery has helped us become – and remain – a market leader.
For additional information contact:
Teresa M. Gyulafia
Director, Brand & Marketing Communications
Batesville
Teresa.Gyulafia@batesville.com
812-931-5084
