in August was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,200.7 billion, 0.3 percent above the revised July estimate of $1,196.8 billion. The August figure is 4.4 percent above the August 2005 estimate of $1,150.3 billion. During the first eight months of this year, construction spending amounted to $793.2 billion, 7.2% above the $739.9 billion for the same period in 2005. The increase was boosted by strong gains in office, lodging, power and manufacturing construction. More …
Facility Solutions Group, a national energy-service company (ESCO), will acquire O.K. Electric Supply Co., Perth Amboy, NJ, a full-line electrical distributor focused on the energy retrofit market on the East Coast. The 87-year-old O.K. Electric Supply serves industrial and commercial customers in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas. More …
The Home Rubber Company, Trenton, NJ, has acquired Ivanhoe Rubber Company, Tullytown, PA, whose customer base is focused on rubber molders and OEM accounts throughout the country. Ivanhoe will continue to operate from Tullytown until the end of the year when it will unite with Home Rubber at its 65,000-square-foot facility in Trenton. Home Rubber also recently celebrated its 125th year. More …
Dutch seals distributor The ERIKS group will acquire Turpen & Associates Inc. in Tulsa, OK, a distributor of seals, bearings and industrial plastics. Turpen has annual sales of $11 million and supplies its products directly to industrial manufacturers in the oil and gas industry in Oklahoma and the surrounding states. The acquisition will bring ERIKS USA to more than $35 million in sales. More …
Accellos Inc., Colorado Springs, CO, a provider of logistics, transportation, warehouse and mobile fleet management solutions has acquired Radio Beacon, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, and Headwater Technology Solutions Inc., also in Toronto. Radio Beacon is a provider of warehouse management (WMS) technology solutions, and Headwater is a provider of technology solutions for the logistics industry. The acquisitions will strengthen Accellos’ position in the logistics, 3PL and WMS software market. More …
Parker Hannifin Corporation reported an increase of 10 percent in total orders for the month of September compared to the same month a year ago. By operating segment: Industrial North America increased 7 percent over the same month a year ago; Industrial International up 17 percent over the same month a year ago; Aerospace increased 18 percent on a rolling 12-month average basis; Climate and Industrial Controls decreased 13 percent over the same month a year ago.
to pursue cross-selling opportunities while continuing to serve the existing customer base in the region. More …Stuart C. Irby Co., Jackson, MS, a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, has acquired CW Utilities. Through this acquisition, Irby adds one location in Houston, TX, to its utility footprint. CWU is a provider of logistics and procurement services to Centerpoint Energy and the south Texas public power market. More …
Swiss fastener distributor The Bossard Group is struggling in the U.S., with a decline of 10.2 percent in sales in the second four months of its fiscal year. As a result, the distributor is restructuring its North American operations and placing them under the banner Bossard North America with a focus on industrial end-users. Overall Bossard sales increased 8.4 percent worldwide, with strong sales growth in Europe and Asia. More …
The Timken Company, Canton, OH, has joined with Garlock Sealing Technologies, an EnPro Industries company, to expand its line of industrial seals to include large-bore seals and bearing isolators, beginning in November in the U.S. and Canada. Timken also announced it would be cutting 700 jobs, or 5 percent of its Automotive Group employment. The manufacturer blamed the step on worsening conditions in the North American automotive industry. More …
Mayer Electric Supply Co., Birmingham, AL, will acquire the distribution operations of Higgins Electric Inc., Dothan, AL. The service, construction, air compressor and motor shop departments of Higgins are not part of the sale, and Higgins will continue those operations. Higgins operates in south Alabama, northern Florida and west Georgia. Mayer has been active on the acquisition scene lately, with purchases of Jones & Lee Supply, Knoxville, TN, and Biloxi Electric Supply, Birmingham, AL, in the past three months. More …
Canadian wholesale revenues reached a new high in July, buoyed by a surge in the sale of automotive products. Sales increased by 2.1 percent to $42.4 billion (Canadian) in July, more than reversing a 0.8 percent drop in June. Only two of the seven wholesale sectors registered declines in July: building materials (-2.7 percent) and personal and household goods (-1.6 percent). More …
Housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,665,000, or 6.0 percent below the revised July estimate and 19.8 percent below the August 2005 rate of 2,075,000. Single-family housing starts were 5.9 percent below the July figure. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were 2.3 percent below the revised July rate and 21.9 percent below August 2005. Single-family authorizations were 3.5 percent below July. More …
July U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $278.47 million, according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association and AMT, The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total was down 14.6 percent from June but up 26.5 percent from the total of $220.21 million reported for July 2005. With a year-to-date total of $2,056.10 million, 2006 was up 24.4 percent compared with 2005. More …
Construction spending
W.W. Grainger, the North American distributor of facility maintenance products, has opened its first facility in China. The Master Branch, in the Shanghai suburb of Minhang, will initially stock about 20,000 products. Grainger has also recently published a Chinese language catalogue featuring all the products carried in the Master Branch and has launched a Chinese Web site. More …
The Home Depot‘s, Atlanta, GA, fast-growing family of wholesale distribution businesses will be united under the common brand HD Supply. In the coming months, each HD Supply business will transition to the name HD Supply, including Hughes Supply, and recent buys Edson Electric Supply and Grafton Utility Supply. HD Supply has also recently acquired Burrus Contractors Supply, a distributor of concrete accessories, forming systems and fabricated rebar. Burrus operates three locations in Texas and one in Louisiana. More …
HVAC and plumbing distributor Ferguson has acquired United Automatic Heating Supply Ltd., based in Ohio, with annual sales of $29.4 million. Ferguson’s parent Wolseley plc, based in the UK, has acquired six businesses in Europe and North America since Aug. 1, 2006. The global distributor of plumbing and heating products and building materials reported its annual revenues increased by more than 25 percent to $25.32 billion and profit rose by 24.7 percent to $1.57 billion. U.S. operations Ferguson and Stock Building Supply accounted for 59 percent of the revenue and 60.8 percent of the trading profit. More …
Global electrical distributor The Rexel Group, Paris, France, has acquired two more distributors in North America. The announcement follows the recent acquisition of GE Supply, GE’s electrical distribution business, which essentially doubled Rexel’s sales in the U.S. Rexel acquired DH Supply, a U.S. distributor of electrical and telecommunications products based in Doraville, GA. DH Supply had $70 million in 2005 sales. Customers include commercial contractors, industrial facilities, power utilities and telecommunications providers. Rexel also acquired Ontario, Canada-based Kesco Electric Supply Ltd, with sales of $6.7 million (Canadian) in 2005. More …
Another electrical distribution giant, WESCO International Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, has agreed to acquire Communications Supply Holdings Inc., Carol Stream, IL, from Harvest Partners LLC, New York-based private equity firm. CSC, the operating subsidiary of Communications Supply Holdings, had 2005 sales of $431 million and is expecting sales of $600 million for 2006. The company distributes low-voltage network infrastructure and industrial wire and cable products. See article p. 3 of this section. More …
Ryerson Inc., Chicago, IL, ($5.8 billion in 2005 sales) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc., has acquired Lancaster Steel Service Company, Inc., a metals service center in upstate New York. Lancaster distributes carbon flat rolled, plate, bars, tubing and structural steel and has broad processing capabilities, including precision blanking, leveling, slitting, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting, as well as shearing and sawing. Lancaster’s operations are complementary to Ryerson’s existing capabilities and will allow the combined company
