Royal Philips Electronics said today it will acquire Raytel Cardiac Services, a provider of home cardiac monitoring services, and other ancillary operations from SHL Telemedicine for a cash purchase of approximately $110 million.

The transaction, currently awaiting regulatory approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007. At that time, the Windsor, Conn.-based Raytel will become part of Philips' Home Healthcare Solutions business group.

Raytel Cardiac Services currently employs 15,000 referring physicians and cardiologists who serve over 200,000 patients annually. Raytel's healthcare professionals use telephone and internet technology to monitor patients with pacemakers, suspected arrhythmias, implanted defibrillators and other cardiac related conditions.

Philips said it aims to leverage these relationships for its Lifeline's products and services, as well as for its in-house line of remote patient monitoring products and services.

The cardiac monitoring segment of home healthcare is a $ 1.2 billion market, with a further market potential of $ 4.8 billion, according to Philips.