eight decades, the company also provided management services for the National Industrial Distributors Association, one of the predecessor organizations to today’s ISA. Thomas Associates, Cleveland, OH, will end its work with ISA effective May 31, 2006. The company managed the organization and its manufacturing association predecessors for 57 years.
The Global Industrial Supply Marketing Organization has named six industry executives to its board of directors. The new members include Thomas Haag, president and CEO of SGS Tool Co., Monroe Falls, OH; Hardy Hamann, vice president/general manager of WMH Tool Group-Industrial Division, Elgin, IL; James L. Packard, chairman of Regal-Beloit Corp., South Beloit, WI; Terry A. Piper, president and CEO of Precision Brand Products, Inc., Downers Grove, IL; Douglas R. Starrett, president of L.S. Starrett Co., Athol, MA; and Lee E. Eagan, Jr., Chairman & CEO, Oliver H. Van Horn Co., LLC, New Orleans, LA. GISMO is hosting the first Global Industrial Supply Marketing Forum in November, a meeting that will address strategies for doing business in the global marketplace and is aimed at top-level supply chain executives.
relationships they have developed with their customers. More …First Technology plc, British maker of crash-test dummies and other safety supplies, has recommended its board approve a $718 million takeover offer from Honeywell International plc, Morris Township, NJ. Danaher Corp. dropped out of a bidding war with Honeywell for the company. Honeywell expects to complete the transaction in the first half of 2006. Danaher Corp. is a leading manufacturer of professional instrumentation, industrial technologies, and tools and components.
The Fastenal Company, Winona, MN, reported a 23 percent increase to $1.5 billion in sales for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2005. The company had an increase in profit of 27.4 percent to $166 million from 2004. Sales for the fourth quarter 2005 totaled $384 million, an increase of 20.6 percent over the fourth quarter of 2004. Fourth quarter profit was up 17.7 percent to $39.1 million from the same period last year. During 2005, Fastenal opened 222 new store sites, an increase of 14.5 percent since the end of fiscal year 2004. There were 6,392 employees at the end of fiscal year 2005, an increase of 16.2 percent from the year before. More …
Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, reported a 13 percent increase in sales to $456.1 million for the fiscal 2006 second quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005. It recorded a 53 percent jump in profit. For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2005, sales increased 10 percent to $899.3 million from $817.2 million in the same period last year. Profit was up 40 percent to $32.1 million, compared with $23 million last year. Applied bumped up its sales guidance for the year to reach $1.8 billion in annual sales. Applied Industrial Technologies is an industrial distributor that offers more than 2 million parts to MRO and OEM customers. In the fiscal year ended 2005, Applied had sales of $1.72 billion. More …
Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corp., Cleveland, OH, had sales of $11.1 billion in 2005, up 13 percent from 2004. Profit was $805 million, up 24 percent over 2004. Sales in the fourth quarter 2005 were a record $2.8 billion, 8 percent above the same period in 2004. Profit was $210 million, compared with $183 million in 2004, up 15 percent. Sales growth in the fourth quarter consisted of 5 percent organic growth and 4 percent from acquisitions, offset by a 1 percent decline from lower exchange rates. The company expects sales growth of about 10 percent in 2006. More …
Lawson Products Inc., Des Plaines, IL, said it is facing a federal investigation into whether Lawson representatives have provided inappropriate gifts to purchasing agents, including government purchasing agents. The probe, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, follows a search warrant executed in December for records and files at the company’s headquarters. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has submitted a document subpoena to which the company is responding. Lawson’s Board of Directors has formed a special committee to oversee an internal investigation of the matter. More …
The Industrial Supply Association has selected Fernley & Fernley of Philadelphia, PA, as its management services provider starting July 1, 2006. Fernley & Fernley provides management services to 25 trade associations, including wholesale distribution associations the Association for High Technology Distribution, the Gases and Welding Distributors Association and the Security Hardware Distributors Association. For more than
The Home Depot has announced plans to grow its supply division to $23-$27 billion by 2010. The Atlanta-based DIY giant wants The Home Depot Supply to become the nation’s No. 1 diversified wholesaler. In just the past year, The Home Depot Supply has grown by 143 percent, according to numbers provided at HD’s annual investor conference. HD Supply’s organic growth was 20 percent. HD Supply’s growth strategy is to continue on the acquisition trail and into more distribution markets tangential to their current product and service offerings, said Joe DeAngelo, who leads HD’s supply division. More …
The bidding war for Canadian steelmaker Dofasco Inc. seems to be over. This week, German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG said it wouldn’t increase its offer to meet Luxembourg-based Arcelor’s bid to acquire Dofasco. Dofasco announced it has signed an agreement with Arcelor for an all-cash offer of C$5.6 billion, or $4.87 billion (U.S. dollars). Dofasco is a major supplier to the North American automotive market, a market both Arcelor and ThyssenKrupp are eager to penetrate. Dofasco had more than $4.2 billion in sales in 2004. Arcelor, a $36 billion company, is the world’s second-largest steelmaker by production.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., Los Angeles, CA, has agreed to acquire steel service center Earle M. Jorgensen Company, Lynwood, CA, for $934 million including assumption of $291 million in net debt. The price is a premium of 25 percent over EMJ’s share price as of Jan. 17, 2006. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2006. After completing the acquisition, Reliance expects annual revenues of more than $5 billion. The acquisition is Reliance’s largest acquisition to date and its first acquisition of a public company. It adds 39 facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Since its initial public offering in 1994, Reliance has acquired more than 30 businesses. More …
Steel services company Esmark, Chicago, IL, has acquired North Aurora, IL-based Premier Resource Group LLC, a service center specializing in pre-painted steel products with annual revenues of $30 million. Combined revenues of the Esmark steel services companies now exceed $700 million. Esmark has acquired at least eight steel service centers in the past two years. More …
Wolseley plc has acquired five more distributors in Europe and North America for a total of about $25 million in cash. The global plumbing and HVAC distributor has acquired 22 distributors since the beginning of August. Wolseley reported results for the first five months to Dec. 31, 2005, showing a strong increase in sales and profits driven by high rates of organic growth in North America and recent acquisitions. After currency translation and including the effect of acquisitions, sales were up by about 25 percent and profit up by about 20 percent on the same period in 2004. Article on p. 4 of this section. More …
Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. has acquired Mississippi Roofing Supply Inc. and Alabama Roofing Supply LLC, affiliated companies. They are headquartered in Pearl, MS, and Montgomery, AL, respectively. MRS and ARS operate a combined three facilities one in Mississippi and two in Alabama that offer residential and commercial roofing products and other complementary building products. Together the companies generated net sales of $76 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2005. Consistent with Beacon’s other acquisitions, these facilities will continue operating under their local identities to maintain the close
