Canadian industrial distributor Wajax Corp. (TSX: WJX) on Wednesday announced it has agreed to acquire Calgary, Alberta-based distributor Tundra Process Solutions Ltd. for C$99.1 million (US$77.7 million).

Founded in 1999, Tundra provides maintenance and technical services to customers in the western Canadian midstream oil and gas, oil sands, petrochemical, mining, forestry and municipal sectors. Tundra also distributes a diverse range of industrial process equipment, representing manufacturers of valves and actuators, instrumentation and controls, motors and drives, control buildings, boilers and water treatment solutions.

The company employs about 150 people and operates four facilities in Alberta — Calgary, Edmonton (2 locations) and Grande Prairie. Tundra also maintains a local sales presence in Fort McMurray and Red Deer, Alberta; Vancouver and Fort St. John, British Columbia; and southern Saskatchewan.

Wajax, which ranks No. 28 on MDM’s Top Industrial & Construction Distributors, said the addition of Tundra meets its acquisition strategy and is expected to “provide meaningful growth in the corporation’s Engineered Repair Services and industrial parts categories.” For the 12-month period ended Nov. 30, Tundra generated revenues of approximately C$147.8 million (US$115.9 million).

“We welcome Tundra and its team of dedicated professionals to Wajax,” said Mark Foote, president and CEO of Wajax, “Tundra’s market leadership in process control provides Wajax with meaningful scale in ERS and related industrial parts in western Canada. In central and eastern Canada, Tundra’s technical capabilities and product and service range will provide new opportunities to further extend Wajax’s ERS services to our customers. Our complementary cultures of safety, customer service and product and service innovation translates into growth driven by a consistent vision of constantly increasing what we can do for our customers.”

Added Iggy Domagalski, CEO of Tundra: “Partnering with Wajax allows us to instantly grow our volumes by leveraging our combined customer relationships and branch networks. Existing Wajax customers will benefit from a broader range of valve, instrumentation and electrical products and services, and existing Tundra customers will benefit from Wajax’s extensive ERS portfolio and geographic footprint. We are excited to join Wajax and contribute to the goal of becoming Canada’s leading ERS provider.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Scotiabank are acting as financial advisers to Wajax for the acquisition. Deloitte Corporate Finance Inc. is serving as financial adviser to Tundra.

Photo courtesy Angle Media Group