Leff Electric Acquired by Richard Worthy’s AMP Electrical Distribution Solutions

One of the electrical market’s best-known family businesses has been acquired by a new distribution entity managed by Richard Worthy. Leff Electric, Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, and its affiliated companies have reached an agreement for the sale of its business with AMP Electrical Distribution Solutions Inc. (AEDSI). The sale is scheduled to close by Oct. 31.

President Bruce Leff and Executive V.P. and Treasurer J.R. (Sandy) Leff will continue to be an integral part of the organization and its ongoing operation, and Leff Electric will be the platform company for future growth and expansion of AMP Electrical Distribution.

“This is a big deal for Leff Electric,” Bruce Leff told Electrical Marketing. “In particular it’s a big deal for our people. I wanted to preserve the company. I didn’t want to see it get absorbed by another organization. We want to continue our growth, remain independent, keep our management team in place and become a platform company. This will allow us to preserve our culture and our identity. What makes us good is our people. And as a platform company we have the potential to really grow the business.”

Leff liked what he heard in the conversations he had with other business owners who had sold their businesses to Richard Worthy in the past, when he built Sonepar USA into a national distributor through 20 acquisitions and a number of branch start-ups, and then built U.S. Electrical Services into a 70-location regional distributor before selling it in 2007 to Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED), Irving, Texas. Many of the business owners who sold their businesses to Worthy to be part of Sonepar or USESI stayed on to manage their distributorships as platform companies, and Leff believes becoming a platform company for AMP Electrical Distribution was the best move he could make to take care of his employees and ensure the company’s future growth.

“If the owners want to stay on, Richard loves having them,” said Leff. “He likes keeping the management teams in place. He doesn’t want to disrupt things. He wants it to be business as usual, and for us business as usual is growth and development and trying to be the best we can possibly be in a tough industry. He knows that is important to me and he committed to making sure that would be in place.

“Richard is really smart. He is knowledgeable, experienced and brings financial resources to us that will really help us create opportunities for growth. You have a smart guy in the business that helps us become smarter at what we do. And now we have the financial resources to help us really grow the business.”

In the Leff Electric press release announcing the acquisition, Worthy, the CEO of AMP Electric Distribution Services Inc., said, “Leff Electric is one of the venerable names in our industry. The Leff family has been a pillar of the electrical industry and we are proud that they chose AMP Electric. We intend to continue Leff’s impressive growth strategy and will support the entire Leff team as it seeks out future growth opportunities.”

Leff announced the agreement to his staff on Sept. 30 and said in that press release, “This transition provides the opportunity for Leff Electric to continue its phenomenal growth in northeast Ohio and throughout the region. Under the new ownership, Leff will continue to be an independent electrical distributor and operate with the same traditions, strength and customer centric values that have been instrumental in the company’s success over the last 92 years.”

In a letter to customers and friends of Leff Electric posted at www.leffelectric.com, Leff said, “There has never been a better time for us to expand on our current success. This opportunity will allow us to remain committed to you, our customers and vendors and introduce Leff to a larger market.”

Leff told EM the company’s future geographic expansion would most likely be contiguous to the areas in which it’s already located. New locations in the regions will  be fed by the company’s existing regional distribution center (RDC) in Brooklyn Heights, as Worthy has been a big believer in RDCs in his past ventures.

Leff Electric is ranked #83 in EW’s 2013 Top 200 ranking, with $98.3 million in 2012 sales, 113 employees and eight locations. Jim Miller, managing director and principal, Vetus Partners, Cleveland, represented Leff Electric in the acquisition.