July 10, 2008

Sonepar Subsidiary Essco Buys Mountain Vista Supply

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Finance, Electrical, Companies / MDM Staff

Chandler, AZ-based Essco Wholesale Electric, a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, has acquired Mountain Vista Supply, Sierra Vista, AZ.

Mountain Vista Supply, an electrical distributor, is a full-line commercial and residential contractor supply house.

Essco Wholesale Electric operates 15 locations in Arizona and California. Sonepar USA has over 4,600 associates in 12 companies operating more than 254 branches in 35 states. In 2007, Sonepar USA had $2.9 billion in revenue. It is a member of the French-based Sonepar group, with 1,450 branch locations and 2007 annual sales of $15.3 ...

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Grainger’s Lab Safety Supply Acquires Highsmith

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, Safety Products, News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Finance, Companies / MDM Staff

Chicago-based Grainger subsidiary Lab Safety Supply, Inc., has acquired Highsmith Inc., Fort Atkinson, WI. Highsmith is a distributor in the library equipment, furniture and supplies market.

We are pleased to be adding Highsmith to our specialty catalog group," said Larry Loizzo, president of Lab Safety Supply. "They have built a solid brand position in the library and school supplies market over the past 50 years; we intend to build upon it."

The integration of Highsmith into LSS's operations should be completed over the next six months. The acquisition is expected to add $20-30 million to Lab Safety Supply's sales in 2008.

LSS provides safety and other products to more than 800,000 customers in North America. It reaches them through a variety of ...

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Dow Chemical Co. Agrees to Buy Rohm and Haas for $18.8B

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Finance, Chemicals & Plastics Distribution / MDM Staff

The Dow Chemical Co. has agreed to buy specialty materials and chemicals supplier Rohm and Haas Company, Philadelphia, PA, for $78 per share in cash or $18.8 billion. The agreement provides that Rohm and Haas will continue to do business under the Rohm and Haas name.

In addition, Dow will contribute a number of specialty chemicals business segments to the Rohm and Haas portfolio.

Rohm and Haas brings to Dow strengths in Coatings and Electronic Materials, according to Dow CEO Andrew N. Liveris. Dow will contribute complementary businesses to Rohm and Haas Company in areas such as coatings, biocides, and personal care products. As a result, annual revenue of Rohm and Haas will be about $13 billion, post-transaction.

Based in Philadelphia, PA, Rohm ...

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GE Likely to Spin Off Consumer & Industrial Businesses

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Free, Finance / MDM Staff

GE announced it is continuing to explore options for its Consumer &Industrial businesses with a primary focus on spinning-off the entire unit, which includes Appliances, Lighting and Industrial, to existing GE shareholders. The company announced on May 16 that a spin-off was one possible outcome of the strategic review of its Appliances division.

As we explored our options for Appliances, it became clear that the fastest, most efficient step we could take in completing the transformation of our Industrial portfolio would be to focus on a possible spin-off of the entire unit,"GE CEO Jeff Immelt said.

GE is a diversified technology, media and financial services company with products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and ...

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Pressures in the Steel Market

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Subscriber Only, Strategy, Research & Analytics, Metals Service Centers, Management / Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier

Around the globe, spiking steel prices and tight supply are having an impact on both small and large manufacturers and distributors. The tough market is forcing executives to make tough decisions without driving off customers.

Steel continues to be in short supply in the U.S. for the third month in a row, according to the June Manufacturing Report on Business released by the Institute for Supply Management. What's more, steel prices have gone up each of the last eight months, and have doubled in the last six.

And though rumors abound in the industry that prices will stabilize, there is little agreement on when that stabilization will take place or what it will entail.

The problem in the U.S. is that steel producers are facing competing ...

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MDM Interview: Challenges, Opportunity in E-Commerce

Leave a Comment / Top Distributor Sectors, Technology, Subscriber Only, Sales & Marketing / MDM Staff

Recently, industry veteran Bill Snyder, vice president of channel development for Palatine, IL-based manufacturer Square D -Schneider Electric's North American operating division -sat down with MDM to talk about the development of electronic data standards in electrical channels. Square D has been active in promoting standards in the electrical distribution channel and in pushing standards through its own supply chain to develop greater efficiencies and visibility with its partners.

MDM: You and Square D have been strong advocates of e-commerce and creating standards. How did that develop?

Bill Snyder: The way that got started was through our own internal efforts to automate our workflows. And then we started extending that to distributors. ...

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Can This Sales Dog Hunt?

Leave a Comment / Subscriber Only, Sales & Marketing, Operations, Human Resources in Wholesale Distribution / Colleen Stanley

This article examines why a can't-fail sales hire sometimes does fail and how to make sure a new hire's past matches your company's structure and needs.

Have you ever been stumped by a bad hire? No, I am not talking about the professional interviewer that wooed the interviewing team or the resume that was fudged. I'm talking about a strong resume where past sales numbers achieved were real and industry sales experience was deep.

Why doesn't a new hire's true success in the past transition to success in a new position? The problem could be that success achieved in their past sales life isn't lining up with factors needed for success in the new position. Below are six areas to examine when determining whether past success can transition into a new sales ...

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Commentary: MDM Welcomes Doug Savage, Thanks David Barth

Leave a Comment / Free, Perspective, Top Distributor Sectors, Power Transmission/Motion Control/Fluid Power, Subscriber Only / Tom Gale

An engaged board of advisors can be a significant differentiator in how well a company performs. With that in mind, we invited MDM's Board of Advisors to spend two days helping us in our planning process as we continue to expand our coverage of wholesale distribution. MDM is a relatively small company with six employees. Our meeting reinforced for me the need for outside perspective and strategic planning for any size company to grow to its potential.

In addition to our board, Brent Grover was a guest at this meeting, offering his unique perspective and insight. In combination with regular surveys and input from all our readers, our board is critical to help us develop editorial focus for the year ahead, as well as offer their deep experience and industry knowledge as we ...

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Monthly Wholesale Trade: May 2008

Leave a Comment / Economic Trends, Research & Analytics, Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

Sales. May 2008 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers'sales branches and offices, were $397.4 billion, up 1.6% from April and up 13.7% from May 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. May sales of durable goods were down 0.2% from last month, but were up 7.6% from a year ago. Compared to last month, furniture and home furnishings were down 4%, while sales of metals and minerals, except petroleum were up 2.9%. Sales of nondurable goods were up 3.2% from last month and were up 19.2% from last year. Sales of petroleum and petroleum products were up 7.5% from last month.

Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers'sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were ...

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MDM News Digest 3813

Leave a Comment / Subscriber Only, Free / MDM Staff

Paris-based electrical distributor Rexel completed the sale of parts of Hagemeyer to Sonepar ahead of schedule, completing the deal June 30. Rexel also sold its German business to Sonepar in exchange for all of Sonepar's activities in Sweden. More
Stuart C. Irby Co., Jackson, MS, a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, has agreed to acquire Equity Utility Service Company, Marietta, GA. The acquisition will expand Irby's footprint in Georgia. Equity is a distributor and manufacturers'agent offering products to electric utilities for their transmission and distribution requirements. More

Chandler, AZ-based Essco Wholesale Electric, ...

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Distribution Financial Metrics and Trading Multiples

Leave a Comment / Subscriber Only / MDM Staff

This table highlights key financial metrics and trading multiples for 30 publicly traded distributors in the industrial and building products industries up to June 30, 2008. Download this data below. Also find graphic illustrating median EBIDTA multiples for the same distribution companies.

These materials, prepared by Robert W. Baird &Co. for MDM, are for informational purposes only.

"7/11/2008185This table highlights key financial metrics and trading multiples for 30 publicly traded distributors in the industrial and building products industries up to June 30, ...

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MDM July 10, 2008