The long-awaited M&A surge appears to have begun in July, with a healthy volume of distribution deals being announced, including from some of the largest players in the industrial sector.

Four companies on MDM’s Top 40 Industrial Distributors list made moves last month – two acquisitions and two divestitures.

Grainger, No. 1 on the 2017 list, sold its subsidiary Techni-Tool Inc. to Moorpark, CA-based TestEquity. Grainger bought Techni-Tool in 2012.

Last month Grainger also announced that it would close 59 branches in Canada as part of a “substantial transformation in the business,” said President & CEO DG Macpherson in a call to discuss the company’s second-quarter results.

In other July industrial deals, No. 4 Motion Industries agreed to acquire Numatic Engineering, Los Angeles, CA. Numatic Engineering will be part of Motion’s automation solutions group, which includes Braas Co., acquired in October 2016.

Also, ERIKS nv – parent company of No. 20 ERIKS North America – agreed to divest its Danish subsidiaries Dansk Ventil Center AS and Valtor Offshore AS to Armatec Group, part of Sweden-based Ernströmgruppen.

And No. 29 DGI Supply agreed to acquire Coast Tool Co., expanding “DGI Supply’s reach and depth in Northern California,” said Jeff Waller, president of DGI Supply parent company DoALL Co.

Here are other key deals that occurred in July 2017:

ABC Supply Acquires Capstone Supply

Border States Electric to Acquire Kriz-Davis Co

EDGE Global Supply Acquires Italian Distributor Technology BSA

Bunzl Makes Offer to Acquire Companies in France

Hydraulic Supply Co. Agrees to Acquire Fabacher Inc.

AWISCO Acquires Nyrock Machine & Tool

Bolts & Nuts Acquires Industrial Fastening of Macon

The Home Depot to Acquire Compact Power Equipment

SRS Distribution Opens 4 New Locations

Brady Acquires Walter Industrial & Sanitary Supply’s Denver Location

Saint-Gobain Agrees to Acquire Companies in Brazil, Germany