News
Breaking news in Wholesale Distribution
VWR International, Inc., West Chester, PA, supplier to the global research laboratory industry, has acquired the remaining 76% interest in KMF Laborchemie Handels GmbH, a German-based scientific laboratory supply distributor.
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KMF has 70 employees, all based in Germany, with annual revenues of US$45 million.
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KMF’s customers include research institutes, universities, public control laboratories, pharmaceutical and other industries. In addition to its central warehouse in Sankt Augustin, Germany, KMF has branch offices in Lohmar and Leipzig. The Company’s mission is to deliver excellence in distribution of scientific supplies and customer service.
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VWR International is a lab supply distributor with worldwide sales in excess of $3 billion. VWR’s …
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; …
United States Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, has agreed to buy Lone Star Technologies, Inc., Dallas, TX, a manufacturer of welded oilfield tubular goods, for $67.50 per share in cash, or about $2.1 billion. The price is a premium of about 39% to Lone Star’s closing share price March 28, 2007.
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Lone Star Technologies, Inc. is a $1.4 billion holding company whose principal operating subsidiaries manufacture and market oilfield casing, tubing and line pipe, specialty tubing products, including finned tubes used in a variety of heat recovery applications, and flat rolled steel and other tubular products and services.
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U. S. Steel expects that the acquisition of Lone Star will strengthen its position as a producer of tubular products for the energy sector and …
AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Valley Forge, PA, has agreed to buy Bellco Health, a privately held distributor of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, for $235 million in cash.
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AmerisourceBergen said Bellco will add strength in the New York City area, as well as a sophisticated generic pharmaceuticals sales and marketing business. Bellco also sells dialysis products and services that will complement AmerisourceBergen’s specialty distribution business.
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Headquartered in North Amityville, New York, Bellco Health has annualized revenues of $2 billion and is a major pharmaceutical distributor in New York City, where it primarily services independent retail community pharmacies. Nationally, the company markets and sells generic pharmaceuticals to individual retail …
Grainger, national distributor of facilities maintenance products, plans to expand and enhance its operations in the Northeast, particularly the New York City area, by revamping its distribution network. It will open new facilities, relocate others, and expand some of its existing facilities.
Grainger currently operates out of 23 locations in the area.  ; The company plans to increase its number of locations by about 25% and up its local workforce by 10-20%. Grainger will increase the size of its distribution network in the Tri-State area by about 40%.
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Grainger’s investments are part of the company’s market expansion initiative, a multi-year program designed to enhance Grainger’s presence in the top metropolitan markets across the U.S.  ; As part of this …
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued building materials distributor 84 Lumber, Eighty Four, PA, for failing to file an Employer Information Report for each year since 2005.
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In the lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania’s Western District, says that 84 Lumber has not filed reports, despite “written notice and a demand for these documents from the EEOC.”
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The EEOC is the governing body that makes equal employment opportunity policy and approves most litigation. The General Counsel conducts litigation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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For more information on laws and …
Building Permits
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,532,000. This is 2.5 percent (& plusmn; 1.0%) below the revised January rate of 1,571,000 and is 28.6 percent (& plusmn; 1.1%) below the February 2006 estimate of 2,147,000.
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Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 1,089,000; this is 3.1 percent (& plusmn; 0.9%) below the January figure of 1,124,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 372,000 in February.
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Housing Starts
Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,525,000. This is 9.0 percent (& plusmn; 10.2%) …
Industrial production increased 1.0 percent in February after a decrease of 0.3 percent in January and a rise of 0.8 percent in December. Output in the manufacturing sector gained 0.4 percent in February and was led by increases in motor vehicles and in high-technology goods.
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The output of utilities jumped 6.7 percent in February, as colder-than-average temperatures boosted production at both electric and natural gas utilities. The output of mines edged up 0.1 percent. At 113.1 percent of its 2002 average, overall industrial production for the month was 3.4 percent above its year-earlier level.
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The rate of capacity utilization for total industry in February rose 0.6 percentage point, to 82.0 percent, a level 1.0 percentage point above its 1972-2006 average. …
Following a strong end to  ; 2006, wholesalers began the year on a subdued note, as weaker deliveries of automotive products and personal and household goods pushed overall sales lower.
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Wholesale sales declined  ; 0.5% in January to  ; $42.7  ; billion, reversing some of the  ; 2.7% gain made in December. Significant drops in the automotive products (-4.6%) and personal and household goods (-4.5%) sectors were behind all of decline in January. Both of these sectors had posted substantial gains in December.
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The remaining five wholesale sectors, representing  ; 67% of overall sales, all registered increases in January, led by the building materials and machinery and electronic equipment sectors.
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Ontario bore the brunt of …
Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s Engineered Products Division for $1.475 billion in cash.
Goodyear Engineered Products manufactures hoses, conveyor belts and power transmission belts, as well as tank tracks for military and off-road vehicles. With approximately $1.5 billion in sales, the company serves more than 4,500 customers around the world in a variety of end markets. Following the transaction, the company’s headquarters will remain inAkron, OH, and current management, including President and CEO Timothy R. Toppen, will continue to lead the business.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is one of the world’s largest …
