2006

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., Parsippany, NJ, has agreed to purchase Linweld, Inc. of Lincoln, NE. The transaction involves all of Linweld’s assets and employees. The acquisition is consistent with Matheson parent company Taiyo Nippo Sanso’s strategy to expand in the U.S. The purchase enhances the company’s presence in the Midwest, furthering the goal of becoming a […]

Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, has signed a definitive agreement to sell its consumer products business, South Deerfield Industrial, Inc., to Cal SDI. The disposition of this business is in line with the continued execution of Kennametal’s strategy to concentrate on its core business. The sale, which is expected to close by August 31, 2006, remains

May 2006 construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,206.2 billion, 0.4% below the revised April estimate of $1,210.5 billion. The May figure is 6% above the May 2005 estimate of $1,137.5 billion. During the first five months of the year, construction spending was $457.4 billion, 8.6% above the $421.1 billion for

Commercial Solutions, Edmonton, Alberta, has completed the acquisition of Rig Products Inc., an Alberta-based oil and gas equipment distribution company, for $8 million. The acquisition will add approximately $15 million in annual revenues to Commercial and is expected to be accretive to earnings. It also further strengthens Commercial’s depth of inside and outside sales staff

Singer Equities has acquired PRC Industrial Supply, Inc., Portland, ME, with a branch location in Bangor.  Founded in 1880, PRC is an industrial rubber products distributor specializing in the sale and installation of conveyor belting, industrial hose, and hydraulic hose and components. Singer Equities is a private equity firm focusing its investments toward value-added distributorships in the

Parker Hannifin Corporation has strengthened its global motion and control capabilities by becoming the majority shareholder in Taiyo Ltd., an Osaka, Japan-based leader in hydraulic and pneumatic technologies. Earnings are expected to be accretive in the first full year.Parker increased its equity stake in Taiyo to approximately 60% by purchasing all Taiyo voting stock previously

Both Praxair Distribution Inc. and Airgas Inc have announced price increases recently in response to the rising cost of fuel and energy as well as basic materials such as steel, aluminum and brass.“The cost of fuel and energy has escalated beyond what we can absorb,” said Praxair Distribution President Wayne Yakich. “This, along with the

Simonds International, Florence, SC, manufacturer of cutting tools, has reached an agreement to sell its industrial knife business to IKS-ACM of Florence, SC. The announcement was made by Ray Martino, president of Simonds International. The sale, anticipated to be in July 2006, consists of several Simonds industrial knife product lines which had previously been sold

MSC Industrial Direct Co., Melville, NY, distributor of MRO supplies to industrial customers throughout the U.S., reported sale for the third quarter fiscal 2006 rose 14.3% to $329.8 million from $288.5 million in the same period last year. Results are for the quarter ended May 27, 2006.Net income for the third quarter rose 20.6% to

W.W. Grainger Inc. President James T. Ryan detailed the distributor’s product expansion plans recently in a presentation to analysts at the William Blair & Company’s 26th Annual Growth Stock Conference in Chicago. Ryan said Grainger plans to double the size of its catalog in the next few years.Already this year, Grainger has increased the size

Lennar Corporation, Miami, FL, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, reported revenues for its second quarter ended May 31, 2006, were up 56% to $4.6 billion. Profit was up 39% to $324.7 million. Stuart Miller, president and Chief Executive Officer of Lennar Corporation, said: “After a long period of steady growth, the homebuilding industry has slowed,

Ferguson, Newport News, VA, has acquired Supply North Central Group and its divisions, E& J Plumbing & Heating Supply Inc., Wagner Plumbing & Heating Supply Co., and D& C Plumbing & Heating Supply Co., in a stock transaction completed May 22, 2006. SNCG has annual sales about $46 million. Supply North Central Group is headquartered in

C& S undercounted workers’ overtime hours by not including compensable time workers spent working off the clock before and after shifts, as well as during lunch and other breaks. To keep their eight-week hourly wages up, employees “ordinarily worked through their half-hour allotted lunch and dinner breaks as well as two 15-minute breaks without recording

The 60-year-old federal Fair Labor Standards Act is known as the wage-hour law. Under the law, employers must pay employees at least the minimum wage for hours worked; must pay them 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for all time worked over 40 hours, unless they are exempt as defined by the law; and must

only fifth (20 percent for domestic transactions and 19 percent for cross-border deals) by executives considering the elements most critical to a transaction’s success. One particularly encouraging insight from the Accenture study was that most corporate executives think their companies did a good job with employee retention and customer relations during their most recent transactions.

reviewing graphic displays of sales order histories by channel, the group could adjust the statistical forecasts for items affected by market trends.Promotion calendar by key account: How did promotions affect demand item and region? Special attention was paid to top accounts, which made up 80 percent of the company’s revenue and/or was strategically important. Forecasts

acquisition of the Lanoga Corp. With the Hope acquisition, Pro-Build will have more than $6 billion in revenues under its umbrella. More … Tencarva Machinery Company, Greensboro, N.C., (about $100 million in annual sales) has acquired the Municipal Division of emoryWilson Company, a pump distribution company, effective May 1, 2006. Tencarva’s municipal division includes Tencarva’s current

About 96 percent of respondents to RSM McGladrey’s 2006 Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution National Survey said their company was “thriving and growing” or “holding its own.”The survey looked at what CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives are doing to grow their companies and compete in the global economy. Overall the survey reported business leaders are