Worthy's US Electrical Services Buys Duplex Electrical Supply

US Electrical Services, LLC (USESI), Exton, Pa., has acquired Duplex Electrical Supply Corp., Port Washington, N.Y.

Founded earlier this year by Richard Worthy, former Sonepar CEO, US Electrical Services has also acquired Electrical Wholesalers Inc., Hartford, Conn.; Monarch Electric Co., West Caldwell, N.J.; and Wiedenbach-Brown Co., New Rochelle, N.Y., These three well-known East Coast distributors are all listed on Electrical Wholesaling’s 2006 Top 200 listing. Worthy’s 2006 acquisitions total more $400 million in sales, 40 locations and 600 employees.

Duplex Electrical Supply will retain its name. Both Herb Slater, president, and Joe Casalino, vice president, will remain with the company along with the current staff. Slater founded the company in 1990.

“We are pleased to have Duplex as a part of our ever-expanding team at US Electrical,” said Greg Griswold, president of USESI’s Mid-Atlantic region. “Duplex allows us to continue expanding our reach well into the New York market and builds upon our focus of adding high-quality businesses to our platforms.”

In addition to making these acquisitions, in the past few months USEI has opened a new facility in Fall River, Mass.; signed leases for branches in Framingham, New Bedford, Waltham, Worcester, Mass.; and Providence/Cranston, R.I. market; leased a 135,000-square-foot in Stoughton, Mass., for a central distribution center (CDC); and announced plans for a CDC in the Hartford market and to open four new branches in the Boston market in 2007.

The company is funded by private-equity capital from MSD Capital, the New York-based family office of Michael and Susan Dell of Dell Computer fame; and Kelso, a 30-year-old private-equity company based in New York.