Eric Smith

Private equity firm American Securities LLC, New York, and specialty building products distributor Foundation Building Materials Inc. (NYSE: FBM), Santa Ana, California, on Friday announced the closing of American Securities’ acquisition of FBM American Securities in November agreed to acquire the distributor for $19.25 per share, or $1.4 billion, including outstanding debt. The firm bought […]

Power management company Eaton (NYSE: ETN), Dublin, Ireland, on Friday announced it has agreed to acquire Tripp Lite, a Chicago-based power and connectivity solutions provider, for $1.7 billion. The acquisition of Tripp Lite, which is nearly 100 years old, is expected to close in mid-2021. Eaton’s purchase price represents approximately 12 times Tripp Lite’s 2020 […]

  Members of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, during the association’s inaugural Digital Summit this week, elected Michael Medart, President and CEO, Medart Engine & Marine, St. Louis, Missouri, as its 2021 chairman of the NAW board of directors. Medart succeeds Doug York, president and CEO of Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply, Phoenix, Arizona. York […]

Building materials distributor 84 Lumber on Thursday announced that Bethany Cypher has been promoted to vice president of real estate and development. Cypher started with 84 Lumber in the purchasing department and was promoted several times with the company. She most recently served as 84 Lumber’s real estate and development director. In her new role, […]

Indian River Consulting Group’s (IRCG) weekly Pandemic Revenue Index for the work week of Jan. 18 to Jan. 22 increased 3.9%, continuing a normal growth trend. “After a spike to start the year, some of it calendar driven, the index has reverted to mid-single digits for the second consecutive week,” said Mike Emerson, IRCG partner. […]

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the “advance” estimate released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 33.4%. The increase in real GDP reflected increases in exports, nonresidential fixed investment, personal consumption expenditures (PCE), residential […]

The U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released advance indicators showing that the international trade deficit and wholesale inventories decreased in December. The international trade deficit was $82.5 billion in December, down $3 billion from $85.5 billion in November. Exports of goods for December were $133.4 billion, $5.9 billion more than November exports. Imports of goods […]

Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE: AIT), Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday reported sales for the fiscal second quarter ended Dec. 31 of $751.3 million, a decrease of 9.9% compared with the same quarter a year ago. Sales were down 10.5% on an organic basis. The company reported a loss in the quarter of 5.3 million, compared with […]

Avnet Inc. (Nasdaq: AVT), Phoenix, Arizona, reported sales for the fiscal second quarter ended Jan. 2 of $4.7 billion, up 2.9% year-over-year. Profit for the quarter was $19.2 million, up significantly from a profit of $3.7 million in the year-ago fiscal second quarter. “Improvements in our Farnell, EMEA and Americas businesses, complemented by a record […]

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI), Stamford, Connecticut, reported sales for 2020 of $7.1 billion, down 10.3% compared to 2019. Profit of $890 million was down 24.2% compared with a year ago. “Results for the fourth quarter exceeded our expectations, driven by stronger rental volume and robust used equipment sales,” said Matthew Flannery, CEO of United Rentals. […]

Wayne, Pennsylvania-based buying group AD on Wednesday announced that it has appointed Mike Carr as president of the organization’s Industrial and Safety – U.S. and Safety Network divisions, effective Feb. 16. Carr brings more than 30 years of experience in the industrial MRO and safety channels, and most recently served as vice president of Snap-on […]

New orders for manufactured durable goods in December increased $0.4 billion, or 0.2%, to $244.2 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This increase, up eight consecutive months, followed a 1.2% November increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.7%. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.5%. Machinery, also up eight consecutive months, drove the increase, $0.8 […]

3M (NYSE: MMM), St. Paul, Minnesota, reported 2020 sales of $32.2 billion, a 0.1% increase compared to 2019. Profit was $5.4 million, a 17.8% increase compared to the prior year. For the fourth quarter, sales of $8.6 billion marked a 5.8% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Profit was $1.4 million, a 43.3% […]

The board of directors of industrial distributor R S Hughes Co. announced this week it has elected Bill Matthews to CEO. Matthews replaces Pete Biocini,” who passed away after a brief illness in November,” the company said in an email. Matthews worked for 3M’s industrial businesses for 35 years and has been on the R […]

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE:ROK), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday announced two additions to its executive leadership team. The company appointed Scott Genereux to senior vice president and chief revenue officer and Brian Shepherd to senior vice president, software and control, effective Feb. 1. Genereux and Shepherd will report to Rockwell Chairman and CEO Blake Moret. The […]

Specialty building materials distributor US LBM Holdings LLC, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, on Tuesday announced it has opened a new roofing and siding location in New Castle, Delaware. The location is US LBM’s eleventh new roofing and siding focused greenfield to open since 2018 and the company’s first location in Delaware. The new location will operate […]

Swedish industrial manufacturer Atlas Copco on Tuesday announced it has acquired DGM SRL (DGM), an Italian distributor of compressed air equipment and related services. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Headquartered in the city of Vicenza, DGM is privately owned and has 21 employees. The company’s customers are mainly industrial companies active in the […]

The U.S. economy is “fighting” its way back after the coronavirus pandemic ravaged it through most of 2020. But while the recovery might be underway, it will be slow in the first half of the year and not truly accelerate until later in 2021. That was the assessment of Baird industrial distribution analyst Dave Manthey […]

Industrial and safety products master distributor ORS Nasco, Tulsa, Oklahoma, has appointed Andy Boyle as senior vice president of sales and marketing, reporting to Kevin Short, president and CEO. “I have known Andy since 2004 and he is a tenacious and highly accomplished sales leader. Most of his career has orbited in and around distribution […]

Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) increased to +0.52 in December from +0.31 in November. Three of the four broad categories of indicators used to construct the index made positive contributions in December, but three categories decreased from November. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, ticked up to […]