June 2006

gainsWholesale sales were up in Central Canada in March, increasing by 0.9% in Quebec and 0.6% in Ontario. For Quebec wholesalers, this was a sixth gain in eight months. In both provinces, the increase in March was mainly attributable to household goods and machinery and electronic equipment, two sectors that registered robust gains at the national level.The

Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced that April 2006 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $319.9 billion, up 1.3 percent (+/-0.5%) from the revised March level and were up 10.1 percent (+/-1.0%) from the April 2005 level.

Sandvik, Stockholm, Sweden, has signed an agreement with Major Drilling Group International Inc., Canada, to acquire the business and assets of the Australian company UDR Group, including its business units in Australia and Chile. UDR Group is a manufacturer and supplier of surface mineral exploration drill rigs. UDR Group reported sales for the last business

Commercial Solutions Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, had acquired Excel Bearings Inc., a $3.5 million revenue Ontario-based distribution company with 10 employees and locations in Waterloo and Cambridge, Ontario.Commercial reported total revenue for the 2005 fiscal year of $97.8 million.Excel is a bearing and power transmission specialist with a strong regional presence in the Southern Ontario market

Anixter International Inc., Glenview, IL, a distributor of communication products, electrical and electronic wire and cable, and a distributor of fasteners and other small parts, has acquired IMS Inc. for $28.5 million in cash. Manchester, CT-based IMS is a wire and cable distributor to OEM and Electronic Manufacturing Services companies. For the full year 2005, IMS

3M, St. Paul, MN, has agreed to acquire the safety business of POMP Medical and Occupational Health Products LLC, a provider of products such as earplugs, eyewear, and hand creams, based in Porto Alegre, Brazil, including related trademarks and patents.POMP brand reusable earplugs are made of durable, medical-grade silicone. According to 3M, the trend in

Universal Forest Products, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI, announced its subsidiary has acquired Dura-Bilt Mfg. Co., a roof and floor truss manufacturer based in Riverbank, CA. Dura-Bilt’s 2005 sales were approximately $16 million. The purchase will expand Universal’s manufacturing capacity in the Northern California market, allowing Universal to serve national and regional home builders in the

Gates Corporation, a subsidiary of UK-based Tomkins plc, has joined with the National Science Foundation, leading universities, and other industrial companies to establish a $21 million Fluid Power Engineering Research Center.‘Gates is committed to supporting industry and educational efforts to increase awareness, efficiency, and use of fluid power technologies,’ said Lou Braga, Group President of

Interline Brands, Inc., a national distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products, has agreed to acquire substantially American Sanitary Incorporated, a national distributor of janitorial and sanitary supplies for a cash purchase price of $127.5 million. The acquisition is expected to close in July 2006, subject to customary closing conditions. Interline

The RG Group, York, PA, has acquired hydraulics distributor Powertech Motion Control Inc. Powertech, which operates in New England and the Mid Atlantic U.S., will operate as a division of the RG Group. Powertech will continue to operate out of its headquarters in Mahwah, NJ, and to operate its three Parker stores in New Jersey and

Private investment firm Platinum Equity, Los Angeles, CA, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire for $630 million Textron Fastening Systems, a global provider of fastening technologies and services to customers in a broad range of industries. The seller is Textron Inc., which announced in late 2005 that it would sell the $1.8 billion revenue

DXP Enterprises Inc. has acquired Production Pump and Machine Tech, companies that specialize in pumping equipment for oilfields, pipelines, and municipalities. DXP paid about $10.1 million for the acquired businesses and assumed about $0.4 million worth of debt. The acquired businesses operate from three facilities with capabilities of fabricating, machining and value-added services. These businesses specialize

Heritage Partners, Inc., Boston, MA, a private equity firm focused on family-owned businesses, has made an investment in OneSource Distributors Inc. OneSource is a family-owned electrical distribution company in Southern California, one of the largest and fastest growing electrical products markets in the country.   The transaction was structured as a Heritage Partners Private IPO, allowing