MDM News Digest 3521

Lawson Products, Inc., Des Plaines, IL, has agreed to acquire the assets and operations of Rutland Tool & Supply Co., a California-based subsidiary of Airgas, Inc. Lawson will pay $15 million cash. Rutland Tool, Whittier, CA, operates from seven locations and generated $47 million in sales in its fiscal year ended Mar. 31, 2005. Rutland Tool distributes metalworking tools, machine tools and related MRO supplies. Airgas acquired Rutland Tool in 1996. In October 2001, Airgas said it would take a retroactive fiscal first-quarter charge of $59 million for impaired goodwill associated with its Rutland Tool business unit, and was then considering its options for the business, including sale or a joint venture. See article here.

Stock Building Supply, Raleigh, NC, plans to acquire Seigle's Inc., a provider of building materials and contractor services in Chicago and Northern Illinois, which recorded sales of $257.8 million in 2004. Stock had revenues of $4.1 billion in its last fiscal year. See article here. Stock also announced it has acquired Canyon Drive Lumber, Amarillo, TX. Founded in 1959, Canyon recorded annual sales of $32 million in 2004. See article here.

Industrial Distribution Group, Atlanta, GA, announced that Charles A. Lingenfelter, president of its southern division, has replaced Andrew B. Shearer as president and CEO. Shearer remains on the board of directors. A founding member of IDG, Lingenfelter was named president of IDG's Southern region in January 2002. Prior to that time, he served as division president of the company's IDG-Charlotte business unit (from January 2001) and as president of The Distribution Group, Inc. (from 1997), one of the companies that combined to form IDG in 1997. See article here. News of the management change came in advance of IDG reporting revenues for the third quarter ending Sept. 30 were $135.2 million, essentially flat compared with $134.5 million in 2004. The company's net income for the third quarter was $1.2 million compared with $3.5 million during the same period last year. Revenues for the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2005, increased $14.2 million or 3.6 percent to $408.8 million, compared with $396.6 million in the same period last year. IDG's 2005 nine-month net income was $3.9 million compared to net income of $5.9 million in the same period in 2004. See article here.

Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, CT, and Mason Capital Ltd., New York, NY, have agreed to end litigation concerning Kaman's proposed recapitalization. Mason had made an attempt this summer to gain control of the company. (See the MDM analysis of the takeover attempt here.)

Motion Industries, Birmingham, AL, reported sales for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2005 were $711.2 million, up 12% from $636.7 million for the same period last year. Operating profits were $53.7 million, up 31% from $40.9 million for the third quarter of 2004. For the first nine months of 2005, Motion reported sales of $2,100. 5 million, up 12% from $1,874.6 million in the same period in 2004. Operating profits for the first nine months were $152.3 million, up 22% from the same period in 2004. See article here.