In its first public bid, QXO made a $9.4 billion offer to acquire France-based electrical distributor Rexel, which Rexel’s board rejected.

Founded by Brad Jacobs, QXO originally existed as Silversun Technologies. The company was rebranded after raising $5 billion in private placement led by Jacobs Private Equity and co-investors in July. The leadership team at QXO primarily consists of former executives from XPO logistics.

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According to Reuters, Rexel’s Board of Directors rejected the offer stating it “significantly undervalues the company and does not reflect its value creation potential through its [2025] strategic plan.” Reuters also reported QXO is not currently planning on submitting an improved bid.

Rexel has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion and reported revenue of about $20.6 billion in 2023. The offer from QXO was valued at 6.52 times Rexel’s EBITDA or 45.6% of its sales.

In a mid-August interview with MDM, QXO said it is targeting up to a dozen companies across 12 specific verticals, including electrical, HVAC and construction supplies, with plans to make one or two acquisitions within the next six months. QXO is focusing on companies with a combined annual revenue of $5 billion to $8 billion.

This offer is QXO’s first major acquisition attempt since the company shared its acquisition strategy. It would have also been the largest recent foreign acquisition attempt in France.

Rexel Holdings North America, with a 2023 revenue of  $8.9 billion, was listed No.5 on MDM’s Top Electrical Distributors List.