Distributor News
MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc., Melville, NY, reported sales for the first quarter ended Dec. 1, 2012, of $577.5 million, an increase of 5.8 percent year-over-year. Profit increased 5.6 percent to $63.2 million. More

The Fastenal Co. of Winona, MN, reported sales for the fourth quarter of $757.2 million, an 8.5 percent increase compared to the same period a year ago. Profit increased 12.9 percent to $98.7 million. For the full year, sales were $3.1 billion, a 13.3 percent increase over the prior year. Profit increased 17.5 percent to $420.5 million. More

Industrial Distribution Group, Belmont, NC, has joined Affiliated Distributors’ Industrial Supply Division. More

Building materials distributor Saint-Gobain has agreed to sell Verallia North America to the Ardagh Group for €1.3 billion (US$1.7 billion), representing 6.5 times 2012 EBITDA. With revenues of $1.6 million in 2012, Verallia North America is the second largest glass container manufacturer in the U.S. More

Chicago-based Grainger was named to the 2013 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Grainger was the only distributor named to this year’s list. More

US LBM Holdings has acquired H&H Lumber Co., Superior, WI. H&H will become the seventh operating division of Lyman Lumber Co., Eau Claire, WI. More

Tenex Capital Management, New York, NY, has acquired Techniks, Indianapolis, IN, a distributor of industrial tool holders, cutting tools and accessories. The acquisition is concurrent with Techniks’ merger into another Tenex portfolio company, NAP GLADU. More

Bunzl plc, the international distribution and outsourcing group, has acquired three companies in South America and the U.S. The redistributor has acquired Vicsa Safety SA in Chile and its subsidiaries in Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, Bunzl’s first acquisition in South America. Bunzl also acquired U.S. companies Schwarz Paper Co. LLC and Destiny Packaging Inc. More

Floor covering distributor Haines, Baltimore, MD, has acquired Baltimore-based Allied Products. Allied is a distributor of flooring-related supplies with 11 locations in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina, also operating in DC, Delaware and areas of New Jersey and West Virginia. More

Ohio Transmission Corp., Columbus, OH, has acquired Industrial Process Equipment Group, a pump and process equipment company that will broaden the geographical reach of OTC’s industrial product and service offerings and grow the corporation’s expert technical staff. More

Morris Group Inc., Windsor, CT, has purchased Hegman Machine Tool, Maple Grove, MN, a distributor of Okuma, Hardinge, Chiron, Hydromat and other manufacturing technology lines. The investment expands U.S. sales and service areas to include Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. More

Columbus, OH-based FCX Performance Inc. has acquired Pierce Pump Co., L.P., Dallas, TX. Pierce is a distributor of pumps, mechanical seals and compressed air equipment in Dallas and the north Texas market. More

Merfish Pipe & Supply Co. and Pipe Exchange Inc. announced that a majority of the stock of both companies has been acquired by One Equity Partners. More

Tech Air, a Danbury, CT-based distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases and welding supplies, has acquired Esquire Gas Products Co., Enfield, CT. More

Morrison Supply Co., Fort Worth, TX, has acquired Santa Monica, CA-based Express Pipe & Supply Co. Inc. With the acquisition, the distributor extends its Southwest platform into the recovering California residential and commercial construction market. More

Apache Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA, has acquired Trico Belting & Supply Co. Trico is a supplier of light-duty conveyor belting in North America with locations in Cincinnati, OH, and Chicago, IL. The acquisition combines Apache’s proficiency in heavy-duty belting with Trico’s light-duty belting capabilities. More

Webb Kentrol/Sevco, a division of the F.W. Webb Co., has acquired Systemation, a Fairport, NY-based distributor of engineered sales and application solutions for the process control industry. Systemation serves the process industry in upstate New York. More

SupplyCore, Rockford, IL, a supply chain and technology integrator with the U.S. Department of Defense, has acquired Community Collaboration & Integration. It will be merging CCI into its technology business practice, the SupplyCore Technology Group. More

Economic News
Canadian non-residential construction spending was C$12 billion (US$12 billion) in the fourth quarter, up 1 percent from the previous quarter, led by higher spending for commercial and industrial buildings. More

Canadian manufacturing salesincreased 1.7 percent in November to C$49.9 billion, the highest level since May 2012. The largest gains were in the transportation equipment, primary metal and chemical industries, according to Statistics Canada. More

Privately-owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 954,000, 36.9 percent above December 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. More

Industrial production increased 0.3 percent in December after having risen 1 percent in November, according to the Federal Reserve. The gain in December is estimated to have largely resulted from a rebound in production in the industries negatively affected by Superstorm Sandy. More

The outlook for Latin American manufacturing is brighter for 2013, according to the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. MAPI forecasts that manufacturing output in Latin America will grow by 0.5 percent in 2012. More

Wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More

U.S. manufacturing technology orders fell 11 percent from October to November, to $421.83 million, according to AMT, The Association for Manufacturing Technology. This total was down 8.5 percent from November 2011. 2012 year-to-date is up 4.8 percent from 2011. More

Manufacturer News
European bearing manufacturer SKF Group announced it would cut 2,500 jobs as it expands and accelerates its cost reduction program announced in 2010. The program aims to reduce annual costs by SEK 3 billion (US$464.8 million) by 2015. More

SKF has agreed to acquire German-based ship components provider Blohm + Voss Industries GmbH from Star Capital Partners for €80 million (US$104.5 million). More

Parker Hannifin Corp., Cleveland, OH, reported sales for its second quarter of $3.07 billion, essentially flat. Profit was $181.1 million. More

Acuity Brands Inc., Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the first quarter ended Nov. 30, 2012, of $481.1 million, an increase of 1.4 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Profit fell 12.7 percent to $26.1 million. More

Curtiss-Wright Corp., Parsippany, NJ, has agreed to acquire the Phönix Group for €82 million (US$106 million) in cash. More

Atlanta-based Zep Inc. reported sales for the first quarter ended Nov. 30, 2012, of $158 million, a 2.9 percent increase over the same period a year ago. Profit decreased 2.7 percent to $3.5 million. More

Oil and gas supplier Schlumberger Ltd., Houston, TX, reported sales for the fourth quarter of $11.2 billion, an increase of 5.3 percent.  Profit was $1.4 billion. More