Sonepar Bolsters Business in Australia with Purchase of Electrical Wholesale Services

Sonepar Asia-Pacific has acquired Electrical Wholesale Services (EWS), a five-branch Australian distributor. EWS, a 40-year-old-distributor, generated AU$13 million in sales (US $12 million). John Colyer, general manager, along with the 32 associates from EWS, officially joined the company on July 1. EWS is based in the state of New South Wales with a focus on electrical contractors, industrial users and local government.

Sonepar already has a sizeable presence in the Australia-New Zealand region. The company made its first move into New Zealand in Sept. 2012 when it acquired Corys Electrical, Auckland, from Fletcher Building Ltd., a diverse publicly owned construction company also based in Auckland. According to Electrical Marketing’s Sept. 7, 2012 report on the acquisition, Corys Electrical was acquired by Fletcher Building as part its Crane Group acquisition in 2011. The price for the transaction was approximately US$71.4 million. Corys Electrical has sold electrical supplies in New Zealand since the 1920s and according to its website currently runs 36 locations. That report said Sonepar did not have any locations in New Zealand until the Corys acquisition, so adding 36 branches gave them a major foothold in the country.

Sonepar’s Australian operating subsidiary, Lawrence & Hanson Group (L&H), operates more than 180 branches run by five different distributors: L&H, Auslec, L&H Solar + Solutions, Pacific Datacom and Specialised Lighting Solutions. Some of these businesses were apparently part of Sonepar’s 2008 acquisition of Hagemeyer’s Australian operations, according to information on the L&H and Auslec websites. These businesses are part of Sonepar’s Asia-Pacific business managed by Keith Moss, president of the Sonepar Asia-Pacific region. Founded in 1969, Sonepar employs 36,000 associates at 2,200 locations in 36 countries. The company posted sales of €16.3 billion (US$21.24 billion) in 2012.