Dakota Supply Group, Fargo, N.D., has announced plans to expand into the Minneapolis-St. Paul market with the purchase of Barber Electric Supply Inc., St. Paul, Minn. The acquisition is expected to close Sept. 30.

Ben Herr, CEO of Dakota Supply Group, said the acquisition offers the company an opportunity to expand from its base in North and South Dakota. Dakota Supply Group does not currently have locations in the Twin Cities or Minnesota.

“The potential market in the Twin Cities metropolitan area probably is four or five times as great as the two Dakotas put together,” he said.

The 33-employee Barber Electric has locations in St. Paul, Minn., and Brooklyn Park, Minn. Herr said the company has not yet determined the management structure of Barber Electric.

Dakota Supply Group, which has approximately 230 employees, ranks as the 57th largest electrical distributor, according to Electrical Wholesaling’s listing of the Top 200. The company has locations in South Dakota in Bismark, Grand Forks, Minot and Williston; and in North Dakota in Fargo, Aberdeen, Mitchell, Pierre, Rapid City and Sioux Falls.

Both companies service the contractor market. In addition, Dakota Supply Group focuses on the voice/data, automation and utility markets. It also sells to mechanical, plumbing and heating accounts.

Dakota Supply Group has warehouses in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Williston, Aberdeen, and Sioux Falls. In 1999, the company acquired Plainsco, a South Dakota wholesale distributor of electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, pumps, and waterworks materials with warehouses in Aberdeen, Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Pierre and Rapid City.