August 20, 2008

Air Liquide Raises Prices

Free, Gases & Welding Equipment, News, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Air Liquide America Specialty Gases LLC, Houston, TX, announced it will raise prices on gases, equipment and services beginning Sept. 1, 2008, or as allowed by customer contracts. Prices will increase between 5% and 20% for cylinder oxygen, acetylene, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and other gas products. Prices for helium will be increased between 20% and 25%. In addition, cylinder rental fees will be increased by 10% while delivery charges will be increased by 25%.

Rising raw material costs along with growing energy and world commodity costs are driving this inflation. This is further compounded by rising labor and insurance costs and the escalating cost of distribution associated with sourcing and delivery,” said Guy Rowland, president.

Air Liquide America …

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Private Equity Firms Agree to Buy Industrial Rubber Products

Finance, Free, Mergers & Acquisitions, News, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Industrial Rubber Products, Inc., Hibbing, MN, has agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Lime Rock Partners, a Westport, CT-based private equity firm focusing on the global energy industry, and Thompson Street Capital Partners, a St. Louis-based private equity firm focused on the manufacturing, distribution and services industries.

Industrial Rubber Products will be acquired for $16.50 per share in cash, representing a 49% premium to the average closing price of Industrial Rubber over the past 20 trading days. The plan still must be approved by shareholders.

Management of the company will continue in their current officer positions and retain a meaningful portion of their ownership.

Daniel Burkes, CEO of Industrial Rubber Products, said: The board …

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Owens & Minor Agrees to Buy The Burrows Company

Finance, Free, Mergers & Acquisitions, News, Pharmaceutical & Health Care, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Owens &Minor, Richmond, VA-based distributor of medical and surgical supplies, has agreed to acquire The Burrows Company, a Chicago-based, privately-held distributor of medical and surgical supplies to the acute-care market. Owens &Minor will pay $30.2 million for The Burrows Company, which reported 2007 sales of $603 million.

The acquisition of The Burrows Company, a large regional distributor with more than 75 years of experience in the acute-care market, is a strong geographic fit for Owens &Minor,” said Craig R. Smith, president and CEO of Owens &Minor.

Owens &Minor will launch a conversion process designed to transition The Burrows Company customers to Owens &Minor’s systems by the end the second quarter of …

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United Stationers to Buy NJ Business of Emco Distribution

Free, News, Operations, Paper Products & Packaging Distribution, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

United Stationers Inc., Deerfield, IL, master distributor of business products, reported its wholly owned subsidiary, United Stationers Supply Co., has agreed to buy the New Jersey business of Emco Distribution, LLC, for $15 million.

We are absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to work with Emco’s customers and continue providing them with the quality of customer service that they are accustomed to,”said Cody Phipps, president of United Stationers Supply.

United Stationers Inc. had sales in 2007 of $4.6 billion. The company stocks over 100,000 items, including technology products, traditional office products, janitorial and breakroom supplies, office furniture, and industrial …

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Higher Costs Probably Here to Stay

Economic Trends, Free, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only / Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier

According to a recent survey by RSM McGladrey, manufacturers and wholesale distributors are not optimistic about the direction energy, raw material and transportation prices are heading. Nearly half of the responding companies expect energy and raw material costs to increase by at least 10% in the coming months; more than half expect the same drastic increases in transportation costs.

The advice from Tom Murphy, executive vice president of manufacturing and wholesale distribution for RSM McGladrey? Get used to it.

This inflationary surge is not an anomaly -it’s a sign of a new, long-term global cost environment. It’s paramount that companies change the way they do business to survive now and thrive in the future,”Murphy says.

That’s not saying that …

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Housing Starts Fall 11% From June

Building Materials/Construction, Economic Trends, Free, News, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only, Top Distributor Sectors / MDM Staff

Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 965,000, 11% below the revised June estimate and 29.6% below the revised July 2007 rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 641,000; this is 2.9% below the June figure of 660,000. The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 309,000.

Year-to-date, the U.S. West saw the most dramatic drop, with a decline in housing starts of 37.7%. In the Midwest, starts fell 32.7%, and in the South housing starts were down 30.3%. The Northeast saw a milder drop of 5.8%.

Building Permits
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building …

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Impact of Consolidation on Smaller Customers

Finance, Free, Mergers & Acquisitions, Subscriber Only / Lindsay Young

Adam Fein of Pembroke Consulting passed along an article to me today on the consolidation of the newspaper and magazine distribution industry. According to the article, posted at crosscut.com, the industry has gone from 400-plus family-operated magazine wholesale businesses to being dominated by four corporations. This article profiles a few independent newsstands that depended on one larger distributor -Source-Interlink -for their vast array of magazines and newspapers covering unique hobbies and news from every corner of the world. Those newstands will no longer be served by the distributor.

Source-Interlink bought competitors throughout the country and serves more than 114,000 retail outlets. It also publishes some …

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August 20, 2008

Air Liquide Raises Prices

Private Equity Firms Agree to Buy Industrial Rubber Products

Owens & Minor Agrees to Buy The Burrows Company

United Stationers to Buy NJ Business of Emco Distribution

Higher Costs Probably Here to Stay

Housing Starts Fall 11% From June

Impact of Consolidation on Smaller Customers

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