We’re in the midst of the latest quarterly earnings reporting period, and for most publicly traded industrial distributors and manufacturers, the word of the moment continues to be “soft.” Major industrial supply firms continue to note reduced customer activity that has led to flat or decelerated sales gains year-over-year and narrowed full-year outlooks.

Despite the soft industrial demand environment that has lasted longer than distributors would’ve preferred, it hasn’t seemed to quell the appetite for merger and acquisition activity.

Dealmaking in July remained steadfast, with MDM publishing news about 31 different transactions involving 31 different distributors — either pending or completed — in industrial, commercial and building supply sectors. That topped June’s 29 and moved our year-to-date count up to an even 200 through July, or a monthly average of 28.6 — far ahead of the 23.4 monthly average through the first seven months of 2023.

It also blew past the 14 deals we posted in July 2023, which was the lowest count we’ve had since we started separating distributor deal counts from overall deal counts at the start of 2023.

July’s activity was highlighted by Sonepar’s intention to acquire Echo Electric Supply in a deal that will add 23 branches in the U.S. Central Plains to Sonepar’s footprint and more than 600 employees. Further north, Sonepar is also set to acquire Robertson Electric Wholesale in Ontario, Canada — adding another 19 branches and more than 400 employees. Both deals are expected to close by the end of August.

Elsewhere, door, frame and hardware distributor The Cook & Boardman Group is having a very active summer, as it just acquired a trio of materials distributors in the U.S. northeast that are under the OKEE umbrella, and another in Maryland.

Find our rundown of July distributor M&A news below, mostly in reverse chronological order.

Bossard Group will acquire Aero Negoce International (ANI), a Béziers, France-based distributor of fastening solutions and logistics services in the aerospace industry. 

American Welding & Gas (AWG) acquired Texas-based Speed Industrial Gas — a welding supplies, industrial and specialty gas distributor.  

Imperial Dade — a New Jersey-based distributor of foodservice, packaging supplies, industrial products and janitorial supplies — increased its Florida presence with the acquisition of City Maintenance Supply. Imperial Dade also acquired Saint John, New Brunswick-based Pro-Tech Sanitation. 

Electrical supplies distributor Sonepar will acquire the Council Bluffs, IA-based Echo Electric Supply Company in a deal expected to close by the end of August. Sonepar will likewise acquire Ontario, Canada-based electrical distributor Robertson Electric Wholesale.

Englewood, CO-based Kodiak Building Partners acquired Thomas Building Center, a supplier of building materials that services Washington customers in Sequim, Port Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula. 

Wolter — a distributor of material handling equipment based in Brookfield, WI — acquired its first manufacturing company, Cincinnati Crane & Hoist, based in Cincinnati, OH. 

Commercial door, frame and hardware distributor The Cook & Boardman Group acquired a family of material distributors referred to as OKEE which includes West Hartford, CT-based OKEE Industries; East Haven, CT-based Builders Hardware; Norristown, PA-based Construction Hardware; and Westfield, MA-based Hardware Specialties. Separately, Cook & Boardman added Elkridge, MD-based material distributors Bunting Door & Hardware Co. and Loktek.  

The OH-based fastener distributor and manufacturer Great Lakes Fasteners Group acquired Superior Components Supply (SCS) in Concord, NC. 

JanSan, foodservice and industrial packaging distributor BradyPLUS acquired TED Supply — a distributor of JanSan supplies, foodservice and a wide range of other products for not-for-profit, healthcare, real estate and property management clients in the New York metro. 

Stellar Industrial Supply acquired Eagan, MN-based PPE distributor USA Safety Supply. 

Roseville, MI-based All State Fastener acquired Creative Assembly in Chillicothe, OH. 

White Cap acquired B&R Reinforcing — a supplier of concrete and fabricated rebar — in Columbus, OH. 

Building materials distributor Beacon acquired Walnut, CA-based Roofers Mart. 

Distribution Solutions Group‘s subsidiary company, Lawson Products, is set to acquire Source Atlantic Limited in Q3 2024 to strengthen DSG’s presence in the Canadian MRO market.  

Electrical distributor Mayer — a subsidiary of Rexel USA — expanded into the Miami-Dade market with the acquisition of Miami, FL-based Electrical Supplies, Inc. 

MRO and industrial supplies distributor Vallen expanded abroad with the acquisition of Dublin-based Eastland Engineering Supply (EES) from MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland.  

Construction and contractor supplies distributor NEFCO acquired Pennsylvania-based Modern Fasteners Inc., marking its second acquisition of the year and its eighth since 2022. 

St. Louis-based waterworks and industrial supplies distributor Core & Main acquired HM Pipe — a Canadian distributor of water and wastewater products. 

Specialty building materials distributor US LBM acquired its fourth structural building component manufacturer this year with the addition of Marshfield, WI-based Automated Products Inc. (API). 

Irving, TX-based Builders FirstSource grew its western U.S. footprint with the acquisition of Flagstaff, AZ-based Western Truss & Components and Orange County, CA-based CRi SoCal. 

Perrysburg, OH-based abrasives and finishing tool supplier TA Industrial Solutions acquired Douglassville, PA-based industrial supplies provider Fullmer Industrial Sales. 

Houston, TX-based flow control product supplier CNC Flow Control acquired Edmond, OK-based Mako Products — a master distributor of tube and instrumentation fittings, tubing and valves. 

West Chester, OH-based fasteners and industrial supplies distributor AFC Industries acquired Birmingham, U.K.-based distributor Forward Industrial Products through its TFC Business Unit. 

Louisville, KY-based hydraulics, pneumatics, automation and hosing distributor Air Hydro Power acquired the assets of industrial distribution Baker Bohnert. 

Zelienople, PA-based industrial and fluid power distributor Motion & Control Enterprises (MCE) acquired electric motor distributor Romanoff Industries. 

Englewood, CO-based Kodiak Building Partners acquired Thomas Building Center — a supplier of building materials that services Washington customers in Sequim, Port Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula. 

What’d We Miss?

Of course, the list above doesn’t encompass every M&A deal announced during July for relevant distributors. 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 2Q24 M&A Report (Premium)
• Here’s our 1Q24 M&A Report (Premium)
• Here’s our June M&A Roundup
• Here’s our May M&A Roundup
• Here’s our April M&A Roundup