2015 M&A Review: The Big Get Bigger

During 2015, most of the national distributors completed significant acquisitions, but Anixter’s purchase of HD Power Solutions made the biggest splash. Anixter took a big step into the mainstream electrical market with its purchase of HD Supply’s electrical division and its $1.9 billion in 2014 sales. Time will tell how this changes the company’s historic focus on wire and cable.

WESCO nabbed some blue-chip independents with its acquisitions of Hill Country Electric Supply, Austin, Texas, and Needham Electric Supply Co. (NESCO), Canton, Mass.; Sonepar added QED Supply, Las Vegas, and with its previous purchase of Codale Electric Supply is now a major player in the Intermountain region. It also bought Virginia’s Eck Supply and companies in at least 10 other countries.

Other acquisitions of note include Graybar’s purchase of Advantage Industrial Automation, Duluth, Ga.; Turtle & Hughes’ acquisition of Forest Hills Electrical Supply, Randolph, Mass.; and Electrical Equipment Co.’s purchase of Williams Supply, Roanoke, Va.

The electrical market became even more global in 2015, as offshore acquisition activity heated up. As you can see on the chart on page 2, there were some interesting acquisitions outside of North America. Sonepar made acquisitions in Europe, Latin American and the Pacific region, and Edge Global Supply, Milwaukee, expanded in China.

Some of the 2015 acquisitions affected the areas of primary responsibility (APRs) for Rockwell Automation. Electrical Equipment Co. will now be selling Rockwell Automation equipment in Lynchburg, Va., with its purchase of Eck Supply’s branch there, as well as in Williams Supply’s Virginia territory through its acquisition of that company. In the Upper Midwest, Werner Electric, Cottage Grove, Minn., took on D.S. Electric Supply’s APR and inventory in some parts of western Wisconsin, but D.S. Electric Supply will still serve electrical customers in the La Crosse and Eau Claire, Wis., markets.