With more than 30 distributor deals, and 19 manufacturer acqusitions, EM’s editors had plenty to write about in 2007. Here are our picks for the most interesting news stories of 2007.

Rexel, Sonepar and Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED) lead another busy year for distributor acquisitions. The largest deal of them all was Rexel’s $4.5 billion buyout of its global rival Hagemeyer, and its subsequent sale of Hagemeyer’s U.S. operations to Sonepar, another global competitor. After the dust cleared, Rexel had added locations throughout Europe, gained an estimated $5.2 billion in sales, and solidified its position as the world’s largest distributor. Sonepar gained more than $500 million in sales and strengthened its coverage in the eastern United States with locations in the Carolinas, where it had wanted to grow, and in Maryland, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. The purchase also bolstered Sonepar’s industrial business.

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Thank-you from the staff of Electrical Marketing.