Wayne, Pennsylvania-based buying group AD announced Tuesday it has finalized a merger agreement with pipe, valves and fittings buying group Delta Distributors effective Jan. 1, 2021.

Delta, which started about the same time AD launched its PVF Division, is a group of independent distributors serving the PVF channel. Its member sales across the U.S are more than $3 billion. This merger joins Delta’s members with AD’s PVF members and will bring collective member sales in AD’s PVF Division to more than $11 billion.

Bill Weisberg, AD chairman and CEO, said the process engaged AD’s corporate and divisional board members and executive leadership in evaluating the financial and cultural benefits of joining the two groups.

“Together, we see tremendous benefits from this merger to leverage our scale for our AD PVF Division members, the AD community at large, and the new Delta members we’ll welcome in January,” Weisberg said. “Delta’s members are extremely well-regarded in the industry. Our two groups share a strong history of serving and advocating for independents. We consider many of them to be good friends, and we’re honored to have them join our community.”

Bill Vail, Delta board director and CEO of Deacon Industrial Supply, added, “We’re thrilled to join forces with AD to continue our work on behalf of the incredible independent distributors in our industry. Leading up to this point, we had substantial interactions with the AD team and I’m confident combining our two groups will lead to continued growth for all our outstanding member companies and suppliers.”