Amid all of the M&A activity in wholesale distribution, it’s always refreshing to see the formation of a new distributor, rather than just the big getting bigger.

Back in December, news came about a new player In the industrial pipe, valves and fittings market in the form of Venturi Supply – which resulted from the combination of six PVF distributors — BPS Supply Group, Producers Supply Company, Tri Star Industrial, Ameripipe Supply, Industrial & Construction Enterprises, and Albuquerque Pipe & Pump Supply.

Backed by Trive Capital, Venturi Supply wasted no time in adding scale, announcing the acquisition of a distributor in Maryland in late April.

The company is led by CEO Michael DiMino, who was the CEO Tri Star. He’s the featured guest in this episode, which gave me a chance to dive more into Venturi’s formation and the moving pieces that had to be aligned for it to launch.

I was particularly interested to learn how Venturi has gone about creating cohesion across its footprint of now seven companies — operationally, culturally and beyond — while also maintaining independence among them. That can be paradoxical on the surface, but leading distributors have found ways to make it work.

DiMino explains that Venturi aims to maintain the independence of its constituent companies while achieving cohesion through shared services, such as accounting, IT, and HR. 

The company operates across three segments: fire & life safety, industrial & commercial and energy & infrastructure. Venturi leverages its extensive network, existing relationships and a strong focus on digital transformation to optimize operations and customer service.

DiMino highlithed Venturi’s unique position in the market, emphasizing its depth and breadth of product lines, strong fabrication capabilities and a commitment to maintaining brand and personnel continuity post-acquisition. Meanwhile, Venturi’s culture is fostered through transparent communication, quarterly town hall meetings and a company-wide bonus program.

With Venturi’s launch in the rear-view mirror and expansion already underway, we also explored what the company’s path forward looks like.

Check out the full episode via the audio player above, and you can find all of our past episodes at mdm.com/podcasts.