Professional Electric Products Co. (PEPCO), Eastlake, Ohio, purchased certain assets of Edison Equipment Co., which has locations in Columbus, and Monroe, Ohio.
Joseph Borkey, PEPCO’s president, told Electrical Marketing that Edison Equipment has a similar customer profile as PEPCO in the commercial and industrial markets, but that Edison is “a lot stronger in the government sector and has established business outside our traditional geographic borders that is strategic in nature.” He added that PEPCO is currently evaluating the two companies’ existing vendor relationships and will run PEPCO and Edison as separate organizations until it resolves any potential channel conflicts.
In an article on the acquisition in Crain’s Cleveland Business, Borkey said PEPCO has hired a significant number of Edison Equipment’s employees and has kept jobs in the two markets as part of the deal, and that PEPCO plans to maintain the former Edison Equipment locations indefinitely to complement its existing operations.
Borkey also told EM that PEPCO plans to continue expanding in Ohio and is evaluating expansion opportunities outside the state, too. “We plan on adding two more locations in Ohio over the next four years, one in Cincinnati and one in Youngstown, so all seven major markets in Ohio have full-service PEPCO locations. Several other opportunities are presenting themselves outside of the state, and we care currently evaluating the potential of these sites.”
In 2010, PEPCO acquired certain assets of Johnson Electric Supply in Columbus, and today the company is ranked #71 on EW’s listing of the 200 largest distributors, with $110 million in sales and 105 employees in 2011. Edison Equipment is ranked #185 in the EW Top 200.