November 2006

Electronics distributor Avnet, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, has agreed to acquire Access Distribution, a General Electric company and distributor of complex computing solutions. Avnet will pay $412.5 million in cash. The acquisition makes Avnet a leading distributor for Sun Microsystems. Avnet will create a separate business unit for the account, similar to how it operates with […]

Metals service center Ryerson Inc., Chicago, IL, reported sales of $1.5 billion in the third quarter 2006, up 8.6% from the prior-year period. Profit was $21.6 million, compared with $30.7 million last year. “Market demand remained solid and prices continued to rise, especially in stainless,” said Neil S. Novich, chairman, president, and CEO of Ryerson. “Our

RBC Bearings Incorporated, Oxford, CT, an international manufacturer of highly-engineered precision plain, roller and ball bearings for the industrial, defense and aerospace industries, reported sales for the second quarter 2007 grew 12.1% to $73.2 million. Profit was $7.4 million, compared to a loss of $2 million in the same period last year.Sales for the six-month

Interline Brands, Inc., Jacksonville, FL, distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products, reported sales increased 39.1% in the third quarter 2006 to $314.2 million. Average organic daily sales growth was 8.9%. Net income for the third quarter was $14.2 million, compared with $9.7 million in the prior-year period. “Our revenue growth in the third quarter was driven

US Electrical Services, LLC, Exton, PA, has acquired Fox Electric Supply Company.

Sonepar USA, Philadelphia, PA, has acquired Friedman Electric Supply, Exeter, PA. According to the regional newspaper covering Exeter, the Times Leader, Friedman was started more than 65 years ago and has 12 locations in Pennsylvania and New York and about 275 employees.  The firm’s president told the paper that the decision to sell was difficult but

>Ferguson>, Newport News, VA, has acquired Gulf Refrigeration Supply Inc. Gulf is a distributor of HVAC equipment, parts and supplies based in Tampa, Florida. In the year ended June 30, 2006, Gulf had revenue of $54.9 million and gross assets of $8.8 million.> >Ferguson> has also acquired Kandall Fabricating & Supply Corporation KF Industries, LLC. Kandall

DXP Enterprises, Inc., Houston, TX, reported a 181% increase in profit for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2006. Sales increased 57.2% to $68.2 million from $43.4 million for the third quarter of 2005. Sales by the businesses acquired in 2005 and 2006 accounted for $9.3 million of the sales increase.  Excluding sales by the

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, CA, has agreed to acquire Crest Steel Corporation, a metals service center in Carson, CA, with facilities in Riverside, CA, and Phoenix, AZ. Crest was founded in 1963 and specializes in the processing and distribution of carbon steel products including flat-rolled, plate, bars and structurals. Crest’s net sales

Stock Building Supply, Raleigh, NC, building materials distributor, has acquired Perfection Truss Company, in Albuquerque, NM; and Lee Window and Door Company, in Sanford, NC. Perfection Truss is a truss manufacturer in central New Mexico. Founded in the 1950s, Perfection operates from one location. Sales for fiscal year ending March 2006 were $6.4 million. The purchase

BlueLinx Holdings Inc., Atlanta, GA, distributor of building products in North America, reported a drop of 17% in revenues to $1.2 billion for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2006. Profit was $2.3 million, compared with $13.9 million in the year-ago period.The revenue decline reflects a 26.8% drop in structural product sales and a 1.1%

Construction spending during September 2006 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,195.9 billion, 0.3 percent below the revised August estimate of $1,200.0 billion. The September figure is 2.9 percent above the September 2005 estimate of $1,162.1 billion. During the first 9 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $903.2 billion, 6.6

DXP Enterprises, Inc., Houston, TX, has acquired Safety Alliance, a company which provides safety and environmental consulting and training services as well as safety equipment sales, service, and rental. Safety Alliance has operated in Farmington, NM, since 1995. DXP paid $2.3 million in cash and assumed about $0.2 million in debt. The unaudited sales and

Gases and hardgoods distributor Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, has acquired most of Dallas, TX-based Union Industrial Gas Group, including 14 branches in Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. The operations that were acquired effective November 1 had annual sales of $38 million.  Airgas is integrating most of the operations into two of its regional companies: Airgas Southwest

>The largest public building materials distributors have already been hit by a slowdown in new residential housing. September housing starts were 17.9% below September 2005 levels. Permits were 6.3% below August, and 27.7% below the September 2005 rate. >Some comments from distributors: >’We expect that difficult market conditions affecting our business will continue to have

Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, CT, reported sales of $307.6 million in the third quarter 2006, up 10% from the prior-year period. Profit was $8.7 million, compared to a loss of $3.6 million in third quarter 2005. For the first nine months of 2006, sales were $897.2 million, up 10% from $812.7 million last year. Profit was $22.1

Hagemeyer reported revenue of 1,580 million for the third quarter 2006. Organic revenue growth was 12.1%, of which more than 60% resulted from mostly copper-related price increases. The effect of acquisitions and divestments led to an increase of revenue of 12 million, driven by acquisitions of Cardi in Sweden and a fully owned subsidiary in Poland.

Electrical distributor Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, is paying $58 million in cash and assuming $11 million in debt to private equity investors for MFU Holding S.p.A., Brescia, Italy, fastener distributor to Original Equipment Manufacturers. MFU is expected to have sales of $66 million in 2006. Anixter is a global distributor of communication products, electrical and