News Digest 3719

CED (Consolidated Electrical Distributors) will acquire US Electrical Services, LLC, Exton, PA,  ; a recently formed distribution holding company lead by former Sonepar USA chief Richard Worthy. US Electrical Services will continue to operate as a separate entity. Worthy will lead the company as its CEO.  ; More
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Hagemeyer NV said in a press release Tuesday that Sonepar's unsolicited bid of US$3.5 billion (2.5 billion euro) "significantly undervalues the company." Hagemeyer says it will meet with Sonepar to "clarify its intentions." Paris-based Sonepar announced in an unsolicited offer that it would pay 4.25 euro in cash per share for the Netherlands-based distributor. The global electrical distributor notified Hagemeyer of its intention on Oct. 8. More
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Barnes Group Inc., Bristol, CT, has named Patrick J. Dempsey as president of Barnes Distribution. Dempsey was the president of Barnes Aerospace. He replaces Idelle K. Wolf, who is retiring. Dempsey takes the helm immediately. More
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Though not yet official, 3M Co. has plans to acquire Standard Abrasives, Simi Valley, CA, a competitor in the metal-abrasives industry. More
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Gases and welding supplies distributor Valley National Gases, LLC, Washington, PA, has acquired Allegheny Welding and Industrial Supply Inc., an industrial gas and welding supply distributor with locations in Johnstown, Greensburg, and McKeesport, PA.  ; Valley National Gases was acquired in February 2007 by Caxton-Iseman Capital LLC, a New York-based private equity firm. More
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Caxton-Iseman has acquired Conney Safety Products, LLC, Madison, WI, a full-service national distributor of personal protective equipment, safety equipment, first aid supplies, and various other safety products, from K+K America Corporation. The transaction is valued at $48 million. More
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Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the eighth consecutive month, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. Still, the trend is toward slower growth in manufacturing as the rate of growth in both the New Orders Index and Production Index slowed. The Inventories Index fell to 41.6 percent, indicating significant inventory liquidation. The rate of growth in the Employment Index increased slightly in September. More

Despite some softening in individual components of a composite quarterly measurement,  ; U.S. manufacturing should maintain its growth trend in the near term, according to the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI Survey on the Business Outlook, a leading indicator for the industrial sector.  ; The September 2007 composite index of 65 is unchanged from that reported in the June 2007 survey.  ; A business index above 50 indicates that overall manufacturing activity is expected to increase over the next three to six months.   ; The index measures the direction of change rather than the absolute strength of activity in manufacturing.

Real gross domestic product -the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in the U.S. -increased at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the second quarter of 2007, according to final estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 0.6 percent.