WESCO buys Canadian industrial and utility distributor

WESCO Distribution, Inc., Pittsburgh, announced plans to acquire Brews Supply, Ltd., headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, through its Canadian subsidiary. Founded in 1927, Brews is a full-line distributor of industrial, utility and commercial products with branches in Calgary, Edmonton, Mississauga and Fort McMurray. Its trailing twelve-month sales were approximately $50 million. The company's line card reads like a “Who's-who” of blue-chip manufacturers of electrical and utility products.

Since the mid-1990s, many of WESCO's acquisitions have been in industrial and utility markets. Over the years, the company has acquired industrially oriented distributors such as Avon Electrical Supplies, Inc., Hauppage, N.Y.; Coghlin Electric & Electronics, Westborough, Mass.; Fife Electric, Detroit, Mich.; Industrial Electric Supply Co., Birmingham, Ala.; Murco, Inc., Monroe, La.; and Standard Electric Supply, Bangor, Me., Its utility acquisitions have included Hamby-Young Power Products, Aurora, Ohio; and Power Supply, Inc., Houston, Texas.

In a press release announcing the acquisition, John Engel, WESCO's chairman and CEO, said Brews is a “well-established business with long-standing customer and supplier relationships and operates in the high-growth energy and industrial regions of western Canada. This acquisition strengthens our industrial and utility market positions in Canada.”

WESCO was ranked #2 on EW's 2011 Top 200 listing with $4.88 billion in sales. Details