There was no coasting to the 2023 finish line for distribution merger and acquisition activity.

Despite the last week of December expectedly being dead quiet on the distribution news front, the weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Eve were chocked full of deal activity to make it another very active month of M&A.

MDM reported on 34 different M&A news items during December involving distributors of industrial, commercial and building supply products, or manufacturers that sell into the channel. 

That count encompasses 40 total transactions, as several included multiple companies. That compares with 28 in November and 43 in October. Year-over-year, it compares with 24 transactions covered in December 2022, 31 in December 2021 and 34 in December 2020.

One such multi-company deal was the formation of a new PVF distributor formed out of the acquisition of six different industrial distributors by Dallas, TX-based private equity firm Trive Capital.

Arguably the other biggest M&A news during December was out of serial entrepreneur and CEO Brad Jacobs, who announced he’s forming a new major building products distributor named QXO. Jacobs’ track record includes forming LTL truckload service giant XPO, equipment rental company United Rentals and waste management company United Waste Systems. He expects QXO’s revenue run-rate to surpass $1 billion by the end of its first year and rapidly scale from there.

We’ll provide a breakdown of the monthly M&A item counts of 2023 on MDM Premium in early January.

Find our rundown of December M&A news below, in reverse chronological order.

Pennsylvania Steel Company Acquires Stark Metal Sales: Metals service center Pennsylvania Steel Company acquired Ohio-based steel service center Stark Metal Sales.

Trive Capital Forms Industrial Distributor Venturi Supply (6): Dallas, TX-based private equity firm Trive Capital has acquired six distributors of pipe, valves and fittings and combined them to form Venturi Supply. Venturi Supply is comprised of BPS Supply Group, Producers Supply Company, Tri Star Industrial, Ameripipe Supply, Industrial & Construction Enterprises, and Albuquerque Pipe & Pump Supply.

Timken Acquires Dutch Sealing Supplier Lagersmit: Lagersmit is a Netherlands-based maker of sealing solutions that is expected to have 2023 annual sales of about $40 million.

GMS to Acquire Kamco Supply in NYC: Building products distributor Gypsum Management & Supply will establish a greater presence in the New York metro market with the acquisition of Kamco Supply.

AFC Industries Acquires Chicago Industrial Fasteners: In its seventh acquisition of the year, Ohio-based industrial distributor AFC Industries has added fastener supplier CIF.

Chemicals Distributor Tricon Makes Acquisition in Mexico: Tricon Energy will boost its polymer distribution and logistics offerings with the acquisition of Mexico-based Polymat and Q-Logistics.

BlackHawk Acquires Alro Industrial Supply; 10th Deal in 2 Years: Specializing in cutting tools, abrasives, coolant and MRO Supplies, Alro is a subsidiary of metals and plastics distributor Alro Steel Corp.

Surface Prep Acquires Diamond Tool & Abrasives: Global abrasives distributor SurfacePrep (Byron Center, MI) adds DTA (Mount Prospect, IL), a technical abrasive source for bonded, coated and superabrasive products.

Imperial Dade Adds Wedge Supply in Dallas: Imperial Dade continues to expand its presence in Texas with the acquisition of JanSan distributor Wedge Supply.

Stanley B&D to Sell Attachment Tools Unit for $760M: Swedish mining and infrastructure equipment manufacturer Epiroc AB is set to acquire Stanley Black & Decker’s attachment and handheld hydraulic tools business, Stanley Infrastructure.

Great Lakes Fasteners Group Makes Acquisition in Buffalo: Adding Frontier Fastener Inc. will help the group scale its plans to service manufacturers and other customers in the U.S. northeast.

PE Firm Acquires 3 Midwest Metal Fabs in Platform Launch (3): Generational Growth Capital has acquired metal fabricators in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois to form a new manufacturing platform.

Diamond Blade Warehouse Acquires Peak Toolworks: Peak is a fellow manufacturer and servicer of diamond and carbide precision cutting tools in Northern Illinois.

3M Sells Half its Stake in Combi Packaging Systems: Sold to H.I.G. Capital-owned SIAT Group in Italy, Combi is a manufacturer and distributor of end-of-line packaging machinery and spare parts.

NSI Adds ENET Solutions to Building Technologies Unit: NSI (Huntersville, NC)further expands its building technologies business unit with the acquisition of California-based ENET.

Grainger to Sell E&R Industrial to Paradigm Equity Partners: MRO supplies distribution giant Grainger will sell off the Sterling Heights, MI-based industrial equipment distribution subsidiary it acquired in 2013.

ISCO Industries to Acquire HDPE Piping Maker Infinity Plastics: It enhances ISCO’s (Louisville, KY) high-density polyethylene offerings and strengthens its operational and logistics capacity.

H.I.G. Capital Acquires Electronic Supply Company in AL: ESC (Mobile, AL) is a 68-year-old distributor of low voltage, security products and monitoring station services.

Brad Jacobs to Enter Building Products Distribution with QXO: With QXO, the serial entrepreneur intends to rapidly scale it as a key distribution market player, eyeing $5 billion in annual revenue within three years of launching.

Honeywell to Buy Carrier Building Automation Unit for $5B: The acquisition of the Global Access Solutions security business will add three brands to Honeywell’s portfolio.

Franklin Electric Acquires Water Treatment Supplier: Franklin Water Treatment acquired the assets of Action Manufacturing & Supply, with operations in Florida and North Carolina.

Harbour Group Adds Hosing Supplier Texcel: Hose and hydraulic products distributor Texcel (Houston) joins Harbour’s family of industrial manufacturers and distributors.

US LBM Expands Truss Manufacturing in DFW, Tucson (2): Specialty building materials distributor US LBM announced back-to-back acquisitions of structural building product manufacturers.

Air Hydro Power Acquires Motor Repair Provider Lebanon: Hydraulics, pneumatics, automation and hosing distributor Air Hydro Power (Louisville, KY) has acquired the stock of Lebanon Power and Apparatus, which is based in Lebanon and Bowling Green, KY.

Shorehill Capital Sells Power Grid Components to Blackstone: Bessemer, AL-based PGC is a distributor of air-break switches, insulators and instrument transformers.

Harrington Process Acquires MRO Distributor PumpMan: In its first acquisition since being privately acquired, Harrington Process (Chino, CA) adds pump service capabilities to its platform with PumpMan.

Steel Supplier Ryerson Makes 4th Acquisition of 2023: Chicago-based industrial metals processor and distributor Ryerson has acquired Cerritos, CA-based Hudson Tool Steel Corporation, a supplier of tool steels and high-speed, carbon and alloy steels.

MCE Acquires Parker Subsidiary Filter Resources in Texas: In its eighth acquisition of the year, Motion & Control Enterprises has added Pasadena, TX-based process filtration product distributor.

Ferguson Makes Texas Acquisition: The plumbing, HVAC and industrial supplies distribution giant’s 1Q financials report noted that the company completed an acquisition during the Aug. 1-Oct. 31 period in the form of SecureVision of America — a waterworks metering distributor based in Sweetwater, TX.

BradyIFS + Envoy Acquire PFS Sales in U.S. Carolinas: It’s already the third deal since BradyIFS and Envoy Solutions completed their landmark merger at the end of October.

Winsupply Acquires PVF Distributor Milford Companies: HVACR, plumbing, PVF and industrial supplies distributor Winsupply announced Dec. 4 that it has acquired Milford Companies, a distributor of PVF and waterworks supplies based in Justin, TX.

TIPCO Technologies Merges with HydraTech Industrial Solutions: The combined fluid conveyance and sealing solutions distributor now comprises 30 locations across 13 states.

Singer Industrial Adds Ray Lewis & Co. in Ohio: It’s the eighth deal of the year for the fluid power, hosing and industrial products distributor (Dallas, TX) formerly known as SBP Holdings.

CD&R Completes $2.3B Acquisition of Veritiv: CD&R advisor and White Cap CEO John Stegeman becomes chairman of packaging, JanSan and print products distributor Veritiv upon the transaction closing.

What’d We Miss?

Of course, it’s highly unlikely that the list above encompasses EVERY M&A deal announced during December for relevant distributors and manufacturers. There will always be deals that weren’t on our radar. If you don’t see one here you think should be included, please let us know at editor@mdm.com.

Here’s our November M&A Roundup

Here’s our October M&A Roundup

Don’t forget: MDM Premium members can download and read our 3Q 2023 M&A Report here.