WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE: WCC), a leading provider of electrical, industrial, and communications MRO and OEM products, construction materials, advanced supply chain management and logistics services, and Anixter International Inc. (NYSE: AXE), a leading global distributor of Network & Security Solutions, Electrical & Electronic Solutions, and Utility Power Solutions, today announced that their boards of directors have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which WESCO will acquire Anixter in a transaction valued at approximately $4.5 billion. Anixter’s prior agreement to be acquired by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC has been terminated, following CD&R’s waiver of its matching rights under the agreement.

John J. Engel, WESCO’s chairman, president and CEO, commented, “The transformational combination of WESCO and Anixter will create a premier electrical and data communications distribution and supply chain services company. With increased scale and complementary capabilities, we will be ideally positioned to digitize our business, expand our extensive services portfolio and supply chain offerings, and deliver solutions to our customers whenever and wherever they need them around the globe. Given the enhanced strategic profile and competitiveness of the combined company, we are confident we will deliver improved growth and earnings, and exceptional cash flow generation. We look forward to welcoming Anixter’s talented associates to the WESCO team as we embark on this next chapter and create substantial value for our stockholders, customers, suppliers and people.”

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of a comprehensive process that showed, from the start, what a strong business the team at Anixter has built,” said Sam Zell, chairman of the Anixter board of directors. “The agreement with WESCO is a great result for our stockholders who will receive significant near-term value and stand to benefit from the combined company’s growth and prospects.”

“This is the result of a very thorough process to determine the value of our company,” said Bill Galvin, Anixter’s president and CEO. “It’s also a recognition of the enormous value created by our talented people, Anixter’s deep industry relationships, innovative technology solutions, and global reach. Looking ahead, the combination with WESCO will allow the combined company to build on our complementary capabilities and create new ways to serve customers and partners.”

Read more of MDM’s analysis of the deal here.