ElkCorp, Dallas, TX, manufacturer of roofing and building products, has received another offer to purchase all of ElkCorp's outstanding shares for $42 a share by an affiliate of Building Materials Corporation of America.

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The special committee and board of directors, consistent with its recently announced merger agreement with The Carlyle Group, will review the offer and make a recommendation to ElkCorp's shareholders.

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On January 16, 2007, ElkCorp announced that it has entered into an amended merger agreement with Carlyle, under which Carlyle commenced an offer to acquire all of ElkCorp's outstanding shares for $40.50 per share. The revised Carlyle tender offer represents a $2.50 increase over the $38.00 price per share provided in the ...

Rexel reported sales for fiscal 2006 at 9.3 billion euro, or $12.1 billion, up 26% from 2005, and up 11.1% on a comparable basis (same scope of consolidation, exchange rates and business days).

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In North America, Rexel sales reached $5.2 billion, up 12.2% on a comparable basis from last year. Sales for the fourth quarter were $1.62 billion, up 4% from the same period a year ago on a comparable basis.

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Sales in Europe reached $5.9 billion for the year. Operations there posted double-digit growth.

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Overall, sales for Rexel in the fourth quarter were $3.5 billion.

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CEO Jean-Charles Pauze said that the performance, in part, reflects increases in ...

Industrial production rose 0.4% in December after a decrease of 0.1% in November. Output in November was previously estimated to have advanced; weaker data for a number of industries, particularly steel, led to the downward revision.

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For the fourth quarter as a whole, industrial production decreased 0.5% (annual rate). In the manufacturing sector, output increased 0.7% in December, and most major industry groups registered gains.

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The output of utilities fell 2.6%, the result of relatively mild temperatures during the month, while the output of mines moved up 0.8%.

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Over the 12 months ending in December, total industrial production increased 3.0%, to a level that was 112.4% of its 2002 average, and total ...

The Fastenal Company, Winona, MN, reported sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, were $1.8 billion, an increased of 18.8% over 2005. Profit increased 19.3% to $199,038.

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Sales for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, were $448,729, an increase of 16.8% over the same period last year. Profit increased 16.4% to $45,570.

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In 2006, Fastenal opened 245 new sites, representing an increase in stores of 14%. Fastenal operated 2,000 sites on Dec. 31. Employees grew to 7,174, up 12.2% from 2005.

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Details here.

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Fastenal 3Q Sales Up 16.9% ...

Jackson, MS-based Stuart C. Irby Co., a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, has acquired Burmeister Electric Company, Minneapolis, MN, and High Voltage Testing Laboratories, Fargo, ND.

Burmeister was established in 1919 to serve utility companies in the Upper Midwest.

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Burmeister is a full-line stocking distributor and manufacturers' agent offering products to the electric utilities for transmission and distribution requirements.=

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HVTL is a fully certified testing laboratory offering high voltage testing services and sales of PPE (personal protective equipment) safety products, used by electric utility lineman and field service personnel in the contractor and industrial markets.

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Burmeister will continue to ...

Housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,642,000. This is 4.5 percent (±8.8%) ...

Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH, reported sales increased 4% in the second quarter 2007 to $472.36 million. Profit grew 21% to $18.5 million.

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For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2006, sales increased 7% to $964.9 million from $899.3 million in the same period last year. Profit was up 23% to $39.7 million.

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Applied CEO David Pugh said: Although our sales growth was softer than we expected, we believe the economic outlook suggests continued growth through our fiscal year.  ; We are actively managing our business and are working to keep costs in line with the slower pace of the economy. Based on the current state of the industrial economy, and with six months of results under our belt, we now expect our year-end sales to ...

Apollo Management, which also recently invested in Rexnord, has made an investment in Bradco Supply Corp., a roofing supply distributor based in Avenel, NJ. Bradco has more than 150 branches in the U.S.

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We are happy for the relationship with Apollo, said founder Barry Segal. In a short period of time we have become comfortable with the chemistry and we see this as a great opportunity to significantly grow the company."

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Apollo is a private equity, debt and capital markets investor with offices in New York, London and Los Angeles.

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More Breaking ...

Wholesale prices rose 1.1% in all of 2006, in contrast to the 5.4% rise in 2005, the Department of Labor reported. The government attributed the slower rate of advance to the index for finished energy goods, which fell 2% in 2006 after climbing 23.9% a year earlier. Otherwise, wholesale prices except foods and energy moved up 2% in 2006 following a 1.4% gain in 2005.

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At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by intermediate goods producers increased 2.8% in 2006 compared with an 8.6% advance in the preceding year, while the crude goods index declined 2.4% after moving up 21.1% in 2005.

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Wholesale prices rose 0.9% in December, seasonally adjusted. The rise follows a 2% advance in November and a 1.6% decline in October. At the ...