News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in August, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.
  ;
Viewed from the manufacturing sector, the overall economy continues to grow at a significant rate, according to ISM. In comparing August to July, the rate of growth in manufacturing was slightly less but expansion continues, although at the slowest pace in the past five months.
  ;
Both the New Orders Index and the Production Index are encouraging for continuing growth as we head toward the fourth quarter of 2007, ISM reports.
  ;
See details <a href=/databank/ism0807.html" ...
Airgas, Inc., Radnor, PA, has acquired Dantack Corporation, a Grand Prairie, TX-based safety distributor with branches in Columbus, OH, and Richmond, VA. The business generated more than $18 million in sales in 2006.
  ;
The operations will be managed by Airgas Southwest, one of the Airgas regional companies, as a stand-alone business for the first few months. Later, operations in Ohio and Virginia will transition to other Airgas regions.
  ;
Airgas’ safety distribution business generated $438 million in sales in fiscal 2007 through telesales and field-based safety specialists within its regional companies.
  ;
Dantack’s extensive local coverage throughout Texas, combined with its national accounts program, makes it a great strategic fit for Airgas,” said …
The Home Depot has completed the sale of HD Supply to a trio of private equity firms -Bain Capital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, and Carlyle Group.
  ;
As announced earlier this week, the terms were as follows: Purchase price of $8.5 billion, The Home Depot to own a 12.5% equity interest for $325 million, and The Home Depot guaranteed a $1 billion senior secured loan.
The acquisition includes a portfolio of 11 businesses and HD Supply Canada. The company will retain the HD Supply name.
We are thrilled to be associated with this group of distinguished private equity firms, and we are excited about the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead for our associates, our customers and our new owners,” said Joe DeAngelo, CEO of HD Supply. “As an …
Source: Statistics Canada
In July, falling prices for metals and the strength of the Canadian dollar drove the prices of manufactured products down for a third consecutive month, while a jump in crude oil prices pushed raw materials prices upward.
  ;
From June to July, prices charged by manufacturers, as measured by the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI), fell  ; 0.7% following two consecutive monthly declines. The drop in prices essentially reflects lower prices for primary metal products, motor vehicles and other transportation equipment, as well as chemical products. However, higher prices for petroleum and coal products, and lumber and other wood products tempered the decline in the IPPI.
  …
Residential investment continued to drag on GDP growth in the second quarter, according to the latest estimates by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
  ;
Real gross domestic product -the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the U.S. -increased at an annual rate of 4% in the second quarter of 2007, according to preliminary estimates.
  ;
In the first quarter real GDP increased 0.6%.
  ;
These GDP estimates are based on more complete source data than were available for the advance estimates released last month. In the advance estimates, the increase in real GDP was 3.4%.
  ;
The increase in the second quarter reflects positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE) for services, exports, …
The weeks leading up to closing the deal on HD Supply has all the stuff for some kind of bizarre reality TV show that would even trump the Donald. The 18-percent reduction in the final price tag for HD Supply raises potential flags for distributors on a number of levels. Let’s explore a few.
  ;
All three panelists at our Distribution M & A audio conference in May agreed that the M & A market was even hotter in 2007 than the year before, but that we might be nearing the end of a strong ride. Did the bell just ring? That large a discount reflects a combination of factors; the easy ones are the downturn in residential construction and the credit crunch. There were a number of internal factors that we won’t know …
A U.S. District judge certified a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against pharmaceutical distributor McKesson Corp., San Francisco, CA, in a legal battle over drug pricing, according to law firm Hagen Berman.
  ;
The suit, originally filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, MA, in October 2006 on behalf of consumers and third-party payers, alleges that McKesson -one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in North America -entered into a secret agreement to artificially inflate the reported average wholesale price of thousands of drugs, a benchmark used by Medicaid and insurance plans to determine payment to pharmacies.
  ;
In her ruling, Judge Patti Saris certified the case as a class action representing millions of healthcare consumers who made co-payments on what …
Air Liquide Electronics continues to expand in Asia -specifically China, Vietnam and Singapore. From the start of 2007, the company has invested 50 million euros (US$68.3 million) in the region.
  ;
In China, Air Liquide has signed a 15-year contract with SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, the largest and most advanced foundry in China) to supply on-site bulk carrier gases to their future Fab in the Wuhan East Lake high tech development zone.
  ;
In Singapore, Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte Ltd will provide another Total Gas and Chemical Management operations, starting September 2007, for the new 300-mm fab of the world first silicon-on-insulator manufacturer Soitec, at Pasir Wafer Fab Park, on the eastern part of the island. SOXAL will …
Graybar, St. Louis, MO, distributor of electrical and communications products and related supply chain management and logistics services, reported $2.56 billion in sales for the first six months of 2007, an increase of 5.1% over the same period in 2006.  ;   ;
Sales improved along with moderate growth in the electrical and communications/data markets. In comparison to the first half of 2006, profit rose 37.4% during the first six months of 2007 to $39.7 …
The Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, officially announced a change in terms for its sale of HD Supply, its $12 billion wholesale unit. The retailer will sell the unit to a trio of private equity firms for $8.5 billion, nearly $2 billion from the original agreement of $10.3 billion.
  ;
In addition, Home Depot will purchase a 12.5% interest in HD Supply for $325 million and will guarantee a $1 billion loan to the buyers.
  ;
Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers have revised their debt commitment for 100% of the third-party debt financing.
  ;
The deal will close Aug. 30, 2007.
  ;
Home Depot expects to net $7.9 billion in cash proceeds from the sale.
  ;
Despite the softness in the financing and residential construction markets, the …
