2007 - Page 8 of 47 - Modern Distribution Management

2007

Rexnord Organic Growth at 8.6% in 2Q

Rexnord LLC, Milwaukee, WI, diversified manufacturer in power transmission and water management products, reported sales for the second quarter ended Sept. 29, 2007, were $453.9 million, an increase of 52.3% over the prior-year period.

Organic growth was 8.6%. Power transmission sales were up 9.3% to $325.9 million, an increase of $25.9 million. The Water Management platform accounted for $128 million of Rexnord’s year-over-year growth.

Rexnord attributed growth in the PT sector to strength in end markets of mining, energy, aggregates and aerospace. Foreign currency fluctuations also favorably impacted sales by $7 million during the quarter as the Euro and Canadian dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar compared to the prior year.

Sales in the first six …

Rexnord Organic Growth at 8.6% in 2Q Read More »

Stock Building Supply Expands in Commercial, Industrial Market

Stock Building Supply has expanded once again in the commercial and industrial markets.
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Stock has acquired Architectural Building Supply Company, with facilities in Utah and Idaho, and Jacobi Hardware Co. Inc., Wilmington, NC, both fabricators, distributors and installers of commercial doors, hardware and access control devices for commercial and institutional projects.
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ABS had revenue of $36 million in calendar 2006. Jacobi had revenue of $3.3 million.
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Stock has also acquired KBC Construction LLC, a turn-key framer and wall panel manufacturer in Albuquerque, NM. In the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, KBC had sales of $16.6 …

Stock Building Supply Expands in Commercial, Industrial Market Read More »

Rockwell Automation Sales Up 10% in 2007

Rockwell Automation, Inc., Milwaukee, WI, reported full year 2007 sales of $5 billion, up 10% from 2006. Foreign currency translation added 3 percentage points and acquisitions added 1 percentage point to the growth rate.

Profit was $1.48 billion, which includes an after-tax gain of $868.2 million related to the Power Systems divestiture. Excluding this and other one-time charges, profit was $597 million for the year.

Sales in the fourth quarter 2007 were $1.37 billion, up 15% from the prior-year period. Organic growth was 8%. Profit was $165.2 million, slightly down from the same period a year ago.

Control Products & Solutions fourth quarter sales were $801 million, an increase of 20 percent compared to sales of $667.4 million in the fourth quarter of …

Rockwell Automation Sales Up 10% in 2007 Read More »

Wolseley Makes Five Bolt-On Acquisitions

Wolseley plc, the UK-based global distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a supplier of building materials, announced five bolt-on acquisitions for an aggregate of 84 million pounds Sterling (US$174 million).
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In a full year, these bolt-on acquisitions are expected to add 109 million pounds (US$226 million) to total revenue.
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Stock Building Supply has purchased three companies in the U.S. (Article)
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HVAC and plumbing distributor Ferguson has acquired J.D.’s Wholesale Plumbing & Supply, Pagosa Springs, CO. J.D.’s had sales of $0.7 million in 2006.
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Wolseley France has acquired Sofiparts SAS, which designs and assembles roof trusses operating from …

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Saint-Gobain Gypsum Enters Vietnam

Saint-Gobain Gypsum has moved into Vietnam through the purchase of Vinh Tuong Joint Venture, created at the beginning of 2007 and owned by Vinh Tuong Corp., Universal Cement (Taiwan) and Compact Resources (Singapore).
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The company, Vinh Tuong Joint Venture, has a manufacturing plant near Ho Chi Minh City that can produce up to 9 million square meters of plasterboard. It employs 84.
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Vietnam benefits from the high growth of the building market, and particularly of the plasterboard market whose use has been recently introduced in the country.
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This acquisition will enable Saint-Gobain Gypsum -which has been exporting to Vietnam via its Thai company for more than 10 years -to consolidate its strong position in the Vietnamese market. It represents a …

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Hoboken Files Ch. 7 Bankruptcy Petition

After closing down earlier this week, the largest independent wood flooring distributor in the U.S. at more than $600 million in sales, Hoboken Wood Flooring LLC, Wayne, NJ, has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

According to a report this week from local paper The Record, sales had fallen about 25% each month for the past year – the commercial business development manager for the company attributed the sales losses to the housing downturn, competition from manufacturers going direct, and the company’s push to expand nationally.

The latter was emphasized in a Floor Covering Weekly report published shortly after private …

Hoboken Files Ch. 7 Bankruptcy Petition Read More »

STAFDA a Barometer of Channel Shifts

The STAFDA annual trade show offered some indicators about the emerging importance of tangential growth in distribution channels. The two-day, product-focused trade show wrapped up yesterday with more than 5,000 attendees and nearly 1,000 booths. Construction-related products -fasteners, hand and power tools, safety products -formed the core product areas. But it was what was happening beyond product that caught my attention (although there were some great new products displayed!).
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New residential construction is down, yet commercial and industrial construction markets are strong, and renovation markets look attractive. Distributors with core customers in residential contracting are more than motivated to grow the commercial and industrial construction side. The same holds …

STAFDA a Barometer of Channel Shifts Read More »

Hagemeyer Acquires Another Firm in Latvia

Dutch distributor Hagemeyer has acquired SIA Energo, an electrical distributor in Latvia. The acquisition of Energo, through Hagemeyer’s fully-owned Finnish subsidiary Elektroskandia Oy, follows on the acquisition of Kolorits, announced earlier this week.
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Energo has revenues of more than & euro; 10 million and over 50 employees. The company is predominantly active in the Construction and Installation market and specialized in the wholesaling of cables.
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Before the acquisitions of Energo and Kolorits, Hagemeyer operated in Latvia through its subsidiary SIA Elektroskandia, which has annual revenues of & euro; 10 million and about 40 employees.
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We are very happy with the acquisition of Energo,” says Rudi de Becker, CEO of Hagemeyer. “This …

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Ainsworth Settles OSB Antitrust Case

Ainsworth Lumber Co., Vancouver, Canada, has entered into an agreement with the direct-purchaser plaintiffs in the OSB Antitrust Litigation. Under the agreement, Ainsworth will pay US$8.6 million to be distributed across the settlement class.
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Five building products distributors had filed a class-action lawsuit against manufacturers of OSB, including Ainsworth, alleging the suppliers suppressed supply to raise prices to unprecedented highs, despite increasing demand.

J.M. Huber Corp. has also settled in the case. The other suppliers named in the lawsuit are: Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp., Weyerhaeuser Co., and Potlatch Corp. Plaintiffs include Sawbell Lumber, Philadelphia, PA; Norwood Sash & Door Manufacturing, Cincinnati, OH; Columbare …

Ainsworth Settles OSB Antitrust Case Read More »

Air Liquide Buys Ramsgate Assets in Iowa

Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP, Houston, TX, has acquired the Galva, IA, carbon dioxide and dry ice assets of Ramsgate Corp., which formerly conducted business as Heller’s Carbonic West.
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The acquisition more than doubles Air Liquide’s dry ice capacity in the region, allowing for an increase in services for food processing and cold transport applications. The acquisition follows the expansion of dry ice production capacity in the eastern U.S.
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Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP is the subsidiary of American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. responsible for providing bulk gases and related services to industrial customers in the U.S. It provides bulk gases and related services to a diverse base of customers in the U.S. including those in the chemical, food, metals and …

Air Liquide Buys Ramsgate Assets in Iowa Read More »

McKesson Sales Grow 9% in 2Q

McKesson Corp., San Francisco, CA, reported revenues for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, were $24.5 billion compared with $22.4 billion a year ago, up 9%. Profit was up 8% to $247 million.

Year-to-date, sales are up 7% to $48.9 billion.
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In its Distribution Solutions segment, U.S. pharmaceutical distribution revenues grew 9% in the second quarter. Warehouse sales increased 5%. Canadian revenues increased 15% for the quarter, including a favorable currency impact of 8%, and medical-surgical distribution revenues were up 11% for the quarter.
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In Technology Solutions, revenues were up 36% for the quarter. Services revenues were up 52% and software and software systems revenues were up 4%. …

McKesson Sales Grow 9% in 2Q Read More »

SYSCO Sales Up to $9.4B in 1Q

SYSCO Corp., Houston, TX, reported sales in its first quarter ended Sept. 29, 2007, grew 8.5% to $9.4 billion from the same period last year. Sales from acquisitions in the past 12 months contributed 0.2% to the sales growth.
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Food cost inflation, as estimated by the change in SYSCO’s cost of goods, was 5.9% for the quarter.
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Profit was $267 million, up from $230 million in the same period a year ago, an increase of 16%.
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SYSCO reported that it saw unusually high food cost inflation” for the second consecutive quarter. (See 3Q Inflation Trends by Commodity Group) These conditions contributed to a 21 basis point reduction in gross margins and a 51 basis point decrease in operating …

SYSCO Sales Up to $9.4B in 1Q Read More »

Regal Beloit Buys Alstom’s India Business

Regal Beloit Corp., Beloit, WI, has acquired Alstom’s motors and fans business in India. The business is in Kolkata, India, and manufactures and markets low and medium voltage industrial motors and fans for the industrial and process markets in India.
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The business will be reported as part of the Company’s Electrical Segment.
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Regal Beloit expects the business to add $10 million and $80 million to sales for the fourth quarter of 2007 and full year 2008, respectively.
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According to Henry W. Knueppel, Chairman and CEO of Regal Beloit, The acquisition of the Alstom India industrial motor and fan business is another significant step in the execution of our Globalization initiative. We intend to continue to improve our global commercial presence to …

Regal Beloit Buys Alstom’s India Business Read More »

Emerson Organic Growth at 7% in 2007

Emerson, St. Louis, MO, reported sales for fiscal 2007 were $22.6 billion, an increase of 12% from the prior year. This was a result of 7% underlying sales growth. Currency translation added more than 2% and acquisitions, net of divestitures, added nearly 3% to reported sales growth.
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Sales for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, were $6.1 billion, an increase of 11% over the $5.5 billion reported in the same period last year. The company achieved underlying sales growth in the quarter of 7% excluding increases of 3% due to favorable currency exchange rates and 1% from acquisitions, net of divestitures.

Process Management in 2007 reported sales were up 17% to $5.7 billion. Underlying sales growth for the year was 11%, which excludes favorable impacts …

Emerson Organic Growth at 7% in 2007 Read More »

VWR International Buys Dutch Distributor

VWR International, LLC, West Chester, PA, a distributor to the global research laboratory industry, has acquired Omnilabo International B.V., a Netherlands-based laboratory supply distributor. Omnilabo has 42 employees based in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Omnilabo since 2003 has been owned by Nimbus, a Dutch private equity firm. The business is a distributor of laboratory and clinical consumables, life science reagents and chromatography products.
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VWR International has annual sales of $3.3 billion. VWR’s principal customers are major pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, technology, clinical, food processing and consumer product companies, universities and research institutes, governmental agencies, environmental testing organizations, and primary and …

VWR International Buys Dutch Distributor Read More »

McNaughton-McKay Electric Buys German Distributor

Electrical distributor McNaughton-McKay Electric Co., Detroit, MI, has acquired S+S GmbH and S & D GmbH in Wegberg, Germany, the largest Rockwell Automation distributor in Germany. S+S/S & D will operate under the name of Mc-Mc GmbH, McNaughton-McKay’s German subsidiary.
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McNaughton-McKay says the acquisition was made in response to customer feedback.” It says it wanted to find “a European source for providing technical and logistical support for an increasingly complex supply chain.”
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S+S/S & D has annual revenues of $15 million.&nbsp ; They have sales locations throughout central and southern Germany.&nbsp ; The S+S/S & D operation serves production equipment OEMs that ship their finished Smachines to U.S.-based companies.
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McNaughton-McKay …

McNaughton-McKay Electric Buys German Distributor Read More »

RONA Organic Growth 2.5% in 3Q

RONA, Boucherville, Quebec, reported sales in the third quarter 2007 were $1.35 billion, up 6.7% over the third quarter 2006. Profit was up 5.9% to $59.4 million.

Excluding contributions from major acquisitions, including Noble Trade, Curtis Lumber, and Mountain Building Centres, consolidated sales increased 2.5%. Excluding the 0.7% decline due to the drop in forest product prices, same-store sales increased by 0.1% in the quarter.

The distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products also recently announced its agreement to acquire Dick’s Lumber in British Columbia.

RONA has 673 stores and eight distribution centers.

Since the beginning of the third quarter, RONA has opened six new stores, three proximity stores …

RONA Organic Growth 2.5% in 3Q Read More »

Milacron Records Net Loss in Quarter

Milacron Inc., Cincinnati, OH, global supplier of plastics-processing technologies and industrial fluids, reported a net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, of $4.5 million, on sales of $204 million.
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This compared favorably to the company’s net loss in the third quarter of 2006 of $7.2 million.
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Manufacturing margins in the third quarter improved to 19.7% from 18.7% a year ago, primarily as a result of continued cost-reduction and sourcing initiatives. New orders of $203 million were up slightly from $201 million in the third quarter of 2006 due to currency translation effects.
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Our efforts to expand our presence in faster-growing, emerging markets continue to pay dividends,” said Ronald D. Brown, president and CEO. “Our orders from …

Milacron Records Net Loss in Quarter Read More »

3M Agrees to Buy Bondo Corp.

3M, St. Paul, MN, has agreed to acquire Bondo Corp., a manufacturer of auto body repair products for the automotive aftermarket and various other professional and consumer applications.
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Bondo brand products include body filler, fiberglass repair materials, under coatings, and adhesives. Bondo products are sold to the auto body professional market through auto body paint specialty stores in addition to mass merchandisers and auto parts retailers.
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The addition of Bondo enhances our professional and retail auto body product lines,” said Ian Hardgrove, vice president and general manager, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division.
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3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division products include abrasives and accessories, masking tapes, panel bonding adhesives, …

3M Agrees to Buy Bondo Corp. Read More »

Airgas Buys Central Welding Supply

Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, has acquired Central Welding Supply Inc., an industrial packaged gas distributor with three locations south of Dallas, TX.&nbsp ; Also effective Nov. 1, 2007, it has acquired Texas Industrial Gas Inc., with one location in Houston, TX.
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Both acquired businesses, which generated nearly $6 million in revenues in calendar 2006, have been integrated with Airgas Southwest, one of the regional companies within Airgas. The transactions bring the total number of acquisitions by Airgas in fiscal 2008 to 10, with acquired annual sales of $400 million.
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Airgas Inc. is a U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and hardgoods, such as welding equipment and supplies. Airgas is also a distributor of safety products, a producer …

Airgas Buys Central Welding Supply Read More »

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