Plumbing Products & PVF Distribution Archives

Watsco, Inc., Coconut Grove, FL, has agreed to buy ACR Group, Inc. for $6.75 a share in cash, a 42% premium to the 90-day average closing price. ACR is a $240 million distributor of air conditioning and heating products.

ACR, Houston, TX, operates from 54 locations serving over 12,000 air conditioning and heating contractors throughout Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada and New Mexico. ACR has 503 employees and distributes a full line of air conditioning and heating equipment and related parts and supplies of 20,000 SKUs.

ACR ranked #7 in Supply House Times magazine’s 2007 list of the top 50 HVAC distributors in the U.S.

Watsco is an independent distributor of air conditioning, heating and refrigeration …

July 5, 2007

Finance

Carrier Corp., Supplier of HVAC Products, to Buy Distributor

Carrier Corp. has agreed to buy E.B. Ward & Company/Valair, a Carrier distributor of residential, light commercial and commercial products. Carrier, a unit of United Technologies Corp., is a supplier with 200 locations in more than 20 U.S. states and Canada.
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The acquisition of E.B. Ward and Valair will strengthen our rapidly expanding sales and distribution network in California,” said Geraud Darnis, president of Carrier Corp. “This will enable Carrier to serve our customers directly in this large and strategically important market.”

E.B. Ward and Valair, with 140 employees and combined sales of $150 million, serve Carrier customers in Northern California and parts of Nevada.

Carrier Corp., headquartered in Farmington, CT, is a provider of …

June 29, 2007

Electrical

Thomas & Betts Sales Up 7.4% in 1Q

Electrical and HVAC manufacturer Thomas & Betts Corporation, Memphis, TN, reported sales increased 7.4% in the first quarter 2007 to $474.6 million. Price increases to offset higher material and energy costs and volume improvements contributed to the sales increase. Profit was down slightly from the prior-year period.
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Thomas & Betts reported that demand remains positive in industrial and utility markets and is starting to strengthen in commercial construction markets.
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Electrical segment sales were $389.2 million in the first quarter, up 8.8% compared to the first quarter 2006. Electrical segment earnings were $64.9 million in the quarter, up 11.4% compared to the first quarter 2006. As a percent of sales, segment earnings were 16.7%.
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April 24, 2007

Building Materials/Construction

Wolseley’s First Half at a Glance

UK-based Wolseley plc, distributor of plumbing/HVAC and building materials, recently reported its first-half results, which were brought down by Stock Building Supply in the U.S. and boosted by Ferguson. Wolseley saw 9 percent organic growth in North America, but profit fell 15%. European operations however saw double-digit organic growth, with profit up 33 percent.
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Here are a few graphics from a recent slideshow Wolseley recently posted online on its first-half results. The full presentation is here.

Download the pdf below to see the …

April 12, 2007

Building Materials/Construction

Gibraltar Buys Three Manufacturers

Gibraltar Industries, Inc., Buffalo, NY, has acquired NorWesCo, Noll Manufacturing, and M & N Plastics from The Employee Ownership Holding Company. The companies, which have annual sales of $60 million, operate manufacturing facilities in Fife, WA; Portland, OR; and Stockton, CA.
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They manufacture more than 4,000 products that serve the building, HVAC, and lawn and garden markets. They sell to retailers, building product distributors, roofing/concrete distributors, lumber yards, and contractors.
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Gibraltar Industries is a manufacturer, processor, and distributor of products for the building, industrial, and vehicular markets. The company serves a variety of industries in the U.S. and throughout the world. It operates 89 facilities in 26 states, Canada, …

April 11, 2007

Companies

WinWholesale Acquires Tri-State Electric Supply

WinWholesale Inc. has acquired Tri-State Electric Supply, a regional distributor of electrical products based in Cincinnati, OH, the Dayton Business Journal reported. The acquisition gives WinWholesale a chance to build a stronger presence in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
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Tri-State had $24 million in revenues in 2006. Tri-State has branches in Dayton and Columbus.
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WinWholesale had $2.6 billion in revenues in 2006 and opened 16 new locations in 2006. It distributes commercial, industrial and residential supplies. …

April 9, 2007

Building Materials/Construction

Building Materials Holding Corp Acquires Riggs Plumbing

Building Materials Holding Corporation, San Francisco, CA, announced its wholly owned subsidiary, SelectBuild Construction, Inc. has completed the acquisition of the remaining 27% of Riggs Plumbing LLC.
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Riggs provides turnkey rough and finish plumbing installation to high-volume residential builders in the Phoenix and Tucson markets and in 2006 had sales of approximately $90 million.
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SelectBuild acquired its initial interest of 60% of Riggs in April 2005 and acquired an additional 13% in July 2005.
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BMHC is a provider of services and building materials in the U.S., serving the homebuilding industry through two subsidiaries: SelectBuild provides construction services to high-volume production homebuilders in growth markets across the country; …

March 29, 2007

Finance

Ferguson Acquires Grif-Fab

Ferguson has acquired Grif-Fab Corporation, a distributor and fabricator of fire protection systems with three locations in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. In the year ended Nov. 30, 2006, Grif-Fab had revenue of $28.3 million.

UK-based Wolseley plc, Ferguson’s parent company, has recently made three other bolt-on acquisitions in addition to the Grif-Fab buy. The four in total will add 29 million pounds, or $37.7 million, to annual revenues.

Since Aug. 1, 2006, Wolseley has made 33 acquisitions in Europe and North America totaling 342 million pounds, or $458 million.

More Breaking …

February 13, 2007

Companies

Watsco Sales Grow 7% in 2006

Watsco, Inc., distributor of air conditioning and heating products, reported sales of $1.8 billion in 2006, a 7% increase from 2005. Profit was $82.4 million.

Fourth-quarter sales were $388 million.

&nbsp ; “2006 was one of enormous change as virtually half the products we sell were transitioned to new families of higher-efficiency products. We expect these new products to provide a unique and sustainable sales opportunity for us given consumers’ high degree of sensitivity and focus on energy costs, President and CEO Albert H. Nahmad said.

The Watsco network expanded by 28 locations in 2006, including locations opened to enhance local service and locations acquired adding new customers, products and market share. Revenues contributed by new …

February 13, 2007

Finance

Ferguson Buys $148M Plumbing Distributor

Ferguson has acquired Cal-Steam Supply Inc., a distributor of plumbing products with 10 locations in the San Francisco Bay area. Cal-Steam had sales of $148.6 million in the year ended Dec. 31, 2005.

Ferguson’s parent company, Wolseley, says the acquisition will benefit from its new Stockton, CA, distribution center to be completed later this year.

Ferguson has also acquired Guntersville Fabrication and Sprinkler Co. Inc. and Guntersville Pipe and Supply. Guntersville distributors and fabricates fire protection systems with three locations in the Southeast. It serves Ohio, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.

Guntersville had sales of $31.5 million in the year ended Oct. 31, 2006.

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January 11, 2007

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