With its purchase of Intrado Inc., West Corp. of Omaha will get a company whose growth rides on the expansion of the 911 emergency phone system.

West announced Monday it would pay $465 million, $26 a share, for publicly traded Intrado, the Longmont, Colo., company that identifies itself as the biggest provider of 911 infrastructure to U.S. telephone companies. The 911 system is adding new features and expanding to wireless and Internet-based phones.
 
Investors rushed to buy Intrado's stock after the announcement. The shares, which closed Friday at $23, gained 11.8 percent to close at $25.72 Monday on heavy volume.

More than 3.2 million shares were traded, compared with a daily average of less than 114,000 in the last year. Monday's price was a 52-week high for the stock. The low was $10.72, on May 12.

West's shares lost 14 cents, closing at $40.13.

Thomas Barker, West's chief executive officer, said during a conference call that 911 services are a $2 billion-a-year market.

"Long term, we know this is a growing market," he said.

Intrado's revenue climbed to $136.5 million in 2004 from $43.12 million in 2000. Intrado hasn't reported full-year 2005 revenue yet but had $107.47 million in the first nine months of the year.

Intrado would provide West a "highly visible revenue stream," Barker said in a press release.

West offered no projections of future earnings with Intrado as a subsidiary.

During the conference call, Barker said that the merger could take $10 million out of Intrado's expenses just by it not having to do the public reporting and other requirements of being a publicly traded company.

Emergency 911 service is entrenched in the wired-line phone system, but has growth markets in wireless phones and Internet-based calling.

West spokesman Dave Pleiss said Intrado has services that use the Internet to relay to firefighters maps of building floor layouts and where things are located. The services also can coordinate contact between ambulances and databases of medical records, he said.

West's acquisition of Intrado is expected to close by July 1. Intrado, which has 790 employees, will keep its name and remain in Longmont.

After turning profitable in 2002 and 2003, the company lost $4 million in 2004. Nine-month results last year showed a profit.

West had 2004 revenue of $1.22 billion and projects $1.65 billion for 2005. It will report 2005 results Thursday.

Intrado will be added to West's communications services segment, the unit of the company that handles customer care for businesses through phone and Internet and that also does inbound and outbound telemarketing.

West also operates debt-collection and voice and video business-conferencing services.