Crescent Adds 16 Branches in Pacific Northwest with Stoneway Electric Purchase

Crescent Electric Supply Co., East Dubuque, Ill., has acquired Stoneway Electric Supply, Spokane, Wash. Founded in 1974, Stoneway has grown from a single location to become one of the largest distributors in the Pacific Northwest, with 2011 sales of $130 million. With approximately 210 employees, Stoneway serves contractor, industrial and government customers from 16 stocking branches in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. The acquisition closed on Sept. 30.

In a press release announcing the acquisition, Marty Burbridge, Crescent Electric’s president and CEO, said, “We are thrilled at the opportunity to acquire a company with the reputation, strength and market presence of Stoneway Electric. Under Crescent ownership, Stoneway will continue to operate under the Stoneway name and brand with the same employees, leadership team, suppliers and customers.”

Stoneway Electric president and CEO Cliff Kelly said in that release, “We searched for the right organization to purchase Stoneway Electric, one that shared our values and vision. I feel strongly that Crescent Electric is that company. Our cultures are very similar. Our employees will have extensive opportunities for training and professional development, and Crescent has the resources to continue to grow the Stoneway business throughout the Pacific Northwest. We will share best practices and learn from each other’s successes.”

Dennis DeSousa, senior V.P.-business development, said in an email to Electrical Marketing that the Stoneway Electric Supply and Crescent Electric branches are similar in size and have very little geographic overlap, and that Crescent Electric Supply intends to bank on Stoneway Electric Supply’s experienced management team and credibility in the market to extend its footprint to other areas in the Pacific Northwest.

“Stoneway is known as a leader in counter and stock sales, in addition to outstanding project management capabilities,” he said. “Overall, Stoneway is considered to be the top provider of customer service in their markets. Our customer segments are alike, but the specific customers we service are mostly different. By leveraging the capabilities of both organizations, we will be able to better service all customers, whether they have primarily bought from Stoneway or Crescent in the past.

“One example is that all customers will have access to the network of inventory and services from the combined branches of Stoneway Electric Supply and Crescent Electric, which is especially appealing to customers doing work outside of their normal geographic area.”

DeSousa says because the supplier alignment of Crescent Electric Supply and Stoneway Electric Supply are very similar, combining of the two companies will be “relatively seamless.” “We don’t anticipate any changes to the Stoneway supplier lineup. However, there will be a couple of changes within the local Crescent branches to realize the synergies we were looking for,” he said.

Stoneway Electric will continue to operate from its current Spokane headquarters and customer and supplier contacts will remain unchanged. Crescent Electric Supply was ranked #11 on EW’s Top 200 listing, with $885.4 million in 2011 sales, 1,504 employees and 116 locations, while Stoneway ranked #60.