News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, CA, has agreed to acquire Clayton Metals, Inc., Wood Dale, IL.
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Clayton Metals specializes primarily in the processing and distribution of aluminum, stainless steel and red metal flat-rolled products, custom extrusions and aluminum circles through its metals service center locations in Wood Dale, IL; Cerritos, CA; High Point, NC and Parsippany, NJ.
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Clayton Metal’s sales for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2006, were about $123 million. Current management is expected to remain in place.
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Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. is one of the largest metals service center companies in the U.S. Through a network of more than 180 locations in 37 states and Belgium, Canada, China and South Korea, the company …
Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation, Cleveland, OH, has acquired Pulizzi Engineering, a manufacturer of AC power distribution, AC power sequencing, redundant power and remote-reboot power management systems. Pulizzi Engineering had 2006 sales of $12 million and is in Santa Ana, CA.
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Eaton Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer with 2006 sales of $12.4 billion. …
The Home Depot, Atlanta, GA, has agreed to sell HD Supply to a team of private equity firms -Bain Capital LLC, Carlyle Group and Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc. -for $10.3 billion, or roughly 10X-12X EBITDA.
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The sale has been expected for weeks now, with a number of private equity firms rumored to have bid for the unit and several to have bowed out due to the down housing market -one of HD Supply’s key customer bases. HD Supply reported a decrease in organic sales in the recent quarter.
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For that reason, the firms likely paid closer to 12X EBITDA, according to Jim Miller, principal and a managing director at investment banking firm Vetus Partners, Cleveland, OH. When they started this process, I believe they were touting approximately $1 billion of EBITDA …
Actuant Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, reported sales of $385 million for the third quarter ended May 31, 2007, up 22% over the same period a year ago. Net earnings were $29.6 million, about the same as a year ago.
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The Industrial Segment generated double-digit core sales growth while the Actuation Systems Segment reported a year-over-year sales decline due to prior-year convertible top launches and the North American heavy duty truck pre-buy.
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Sales for the nine months ended May 31, 2007 were $1.069 billion, or 22% higher than the $877 million in the comparable prior-year period. Excluding the impact of foreign currency rate changes and sales from acquired businesses, core sales increased …
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for May 2007:
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Building Permits
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,501,000. This is 3% above the revised April rate of 1,457,000, but is 21.7% below the revised May 2006 estimate of 1,918,000.
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Single-family authorizations in May were at a rate of 1,056,000; this is 1.8% below the April figure of 1,075,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 379,000 in May.
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Housing Starts
Privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of …
Following a strong gain in March, Canadian manufacturing shipments edged down in April. Shipments decreased by  ; 0.6% to an estimated  ; $49.7  ; billion.
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Excluding the motor vehicle parts and accessory industries, manufacturing shipments increased  ; 1% in April.
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At  ; 1997  ; prices, shipments rose  ; 0.5% to  ; $45  ; billion. The constant dollar measurement takes price fluctuations into account. This was the fifth volume advance in six months.
Shipments declined in  ; 12  ; of  ; 21  ; manufacturing industries, which represent about  ; 51% of total output.
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Shipments of non-durable goods increased for the third consecutive month in April, rising  ; 0.7% to  ; $22.5  …
The Timken Company, Canton, OH, has increased prices on double and triple thermal treated product, effective with shipments from Jan. 1, 2008. Bar product prices will increase by $50 a ton, and tubing product prices will go up by 10%.
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Prices on as-rolled and single thermal treated products are not affected.
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Timken is a $5 billion manufacturer operating in 26 countries and 25,000 …
Profits for electrical distributors in 2006 rose sharply to the highest level since 1993, reaching a median of 3.7%, according to the National Association of Electrical Distributors in its annual Performance Analysis Report (PAR).
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The 3.7% figure represents the third consecutive year of sharp rises in profit margins, compared to medians of 2.9% in 2005, 2.1% in 2004, and 1.3% in 2004. Among a select group of high profit” distributors, the 2006 profit margin was almost twice as high at 7.3%.
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Accompanying the increased profits were 2006 median sales increases of 17.4%, also the highest in a decade, and higher than the 11.1% increase recorded in 2005.
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The report’s author, Dr. Al Bates of Profit Planning Group in Boulder, CO, cautioned that a …
Industrial production was unchanged in May after a smaller revised increase of 0.4 percent in April. Output in the manufacturing sector edged up 0.1 percent in May, and mining output moved up 0.5 percent after declining 0.6 percent in April.
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At 112.7 percent of its 2002 average, overall industrial production for May was 1.6 percent above its year-earlier level. The rate of capacity utilization for total industry fell 0.2 percentage point, to 81.3 percent, a level 0.3 percentage point above its 1972-2006 average.
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Market Groups
The output of consumer goods decreased 0.2 percent in May after having risen 0.8 percent in April. The production of consumer durables edged down 0.1 percent in May, and the output of nondurables fell 0.3 percent. …
Bloomberg News has reported that two groups of private equity firms are prepared to submit final bids  ; of $10 billion  ; for Home Depot’s wholesale business, HD Supply. They are: Bain Capital LLC, Carlyle Group and Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc.; and the pairing of  ; Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and CCMP Capital Advisors LLC.
Final bids are apparently due Friday. This report is similar to that reported by MDM  ; in early March.
Clayton Dubilier & Rice is the most recognizable among the teams in the distribution world, as it most recently invested in global electrical distributor Rexel Inc., and recently <a ...
