Gases distributor Air Liquide announced Wednesday a long-term supply agreement with Eastman Chemical Co. to provide additional gaseous oxygen, nitrogen and syngas supporting Eastman’s growth and production in Longview, Texas. Air Liquide will invest more than $160 million to modernize existing assets and build a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) and Partial Oxidation Unit (POX). […]
US LBM Opens New Chicago Location
US LBM, a Chicago-based specialty building materials distributor, this week announced the opening of a new Hines Supply roofing and siding location in West Chicago. The location is US LBM’s eighth new roofing- and siding- focused greenfield since 2018. A division of US LBM, Hines distributes building products across Illinois, including Chicago and the city’s […]
New Orders for Manufactured Goods Jumps 6.4% in July
New orders for manufactured goods in July, up three consecutive months, increased $27.8 billion or 6.4% to $466.1 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday. This followed a 6.4% June increase. Shipments, also up three consecutive months, increased $21.3 billion or 4.6% to $479.5 billion. This followed a 10% June increase. Unfilled orders, down four […]
Motion Industries Acquires Motion Control & Automation Company
Motion Industries Inc., Birmingham, Alabama, a distributor of maintenance, repair, and operation replacement parts and a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co., announced that it has acquired Park Hills, Kentucky-based motion control and automation products and services supplier Applied Machine and Motion Control Inc. (AMMC). Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Founded in […]
Motion Industries Acquires Motion Control & Automation Company
Motion Industries Inc., Birmingham, Alabama, a distributor of maintenance, repair, and operation replacement parts and a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co., announced that it has acquired Park Hills, Kentucky-based motion control and automation products and services supplier Applied Machine and Motion Control Inc. (AMMC). Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Founded in […]
MSC Industrial Appoints VP, E-Commerce
MRO distributor MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE: MSM), Melville, New York, has appointed Faisal Hussain as vice president, e-commerce. Hussain joins MSC from Ingram Micro, a $50 billion, global supply chain organization of information technology products, where he served as executive director of global product management and UX. “Although MSC has always been at the forefront […]
Atlas Copco Completes MEDGAS Acquisition
Swedish manufacturer Atlas Copco announced Wednesday that it completed its acquisition of MEDGAS-Technik GmbH, a German-based manufacturer, distributor, installer and service provider of medical air and medical vacuum systems, pipeline equipment and medical supplies. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. MEDGAS is headquartered in Berndroth, Germany, and has 80 employees. The company has branch […]
Danaher Appoints Rainer Blair As President, CEO
Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR), Washington, D.C., announced that the company’s board of directors has appointed Rainer M. Blair as president and CEO and a member of the board of directors effective Sept. 1 The move was part of the company’s previously disclosed succession plan. Blair’s predecessor, Thomas P. Joyce, Jr., retired from these positions and will continue to […]
Ingersoll Rand Acquires Pump Manufacturer Albin Pump
Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE: IR), Davidson, North Carolina, completed its acquisition of Albin Pump SAS, headquartered in Montelimar, France. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The company said the addition “fits strategically with the company’s intention to expand its offering of fluid management technologies and drive more sustainability into pump applications.” Albin has 30 […]
Myers Industries Announces Three Leadership Appointments
Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE: MYE), Akron, Ohio, a manufacturer of polymer products and a distributor for the tire, wheel and under-vehicle service industry, on Tuesday announced three key additions to its leadership team. James Gurnee has been named vice president, sales and commercial excellence. David Basque has been named president, Buckhorn, and vice president, integration. […]
AD, SafetyNetwork Finalize Merger, Creating AD Safety Network Division
Buying group AD, Wayne, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday announced it has finalized the merger agreement with Tampa, Florida-based SafetyNetwork, creating AD’s only safety-dedicated division focused on the growth of independent distributors specializing in the safety market. Financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed. This milestone comes after a late-February vote in which SafetyNetwork’s independent members voted […]
Manufacturing Sector Expanded in August
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in August, and the overall economy grew for the fourth consecutive month — after dipping significantly due to the coronavirus — say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The August PMI registered 56%, up 1.8% from the July reading of 54.2%. The […]
July Construction Spending Flat
Construction spending during July 2020 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,364.6 billion, 0.1% above the revised June estimate of $1,362.8 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The July figure is 0.1% below the July 2019 estimate of $1,366.0 billion. During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted […]
Lawson Products Acquires Partsmaster
MRO distributor Lawson Products Inc. (Nasdaq: LAWS), Chicago, on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Partsmaster, a Greenville, Texas-based MRO solutions provider, for $35.3 million. Partsmaster, which was established in 1968, has annual sales of about $63 million and serves 16,000 customers with more than 200 sales representatives principally through its Greenville distribution center. Partsmaster had been a division of […]
August M&A Roundup: Mammoth Deals Highlight Busy Month
Even though volume hasn’t quite returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, distribution M&A notched another big month in August — at least relative to the first half of the pandemic — with a few monumental deals that sparked plenty of buzz across the industry. On August 11, Atlanta-based HD Supply Holdings Inc. shifted gears and announced that […]
August M&A Roundup: Mammoth Deals Highlight Busy Month
Even though volume hasn’t quite returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, distribution M&A notched another big month in August — at least relative to the first half of the pandemic — with a few monumental deals that sparked plenty of buzz across the industry. On August 11, Atlanta-based HD Supply Holdings Inc. shifted gears and announced that […]
CD&R to Acquire Epicor from KKR for $4.7 Billion
New York-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on Monday announced it would acquire Austin, Texas-based Epicor Software Corp. from investment firm KKR for $4.7 billion. Epicor, an enterprise software vendor that delivers cloud-enabled services to more than 20,000 customers globally, specializes in industrial end markets that include manufacturing, distribution, retail and services categories. […]
CD&R to Acquire Epicor from KKR for $4.7 Billion
New York-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on Monday announced it would acquire Austin, Texas-based Epicor Software Corp. from investment firm KKR for $4.7 billion. Epicor, an enterprise software vendor that delivers cloud-enabled services to more than 20,000 customers globally, specializes in industrial end markets that include manufacturing, distribution, retail and services categories. […]
MSC Industrial Supply Appoints CFO
MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE: MSM), Melville, New York, a distributor of metalworking and MRO supplies, on Monday announced that it has named Kristen Actis-Grande to executive vice president and CFO. Actis-Grande joins MSC following a 17-year tenure with Ingersoll Rand. She most recently served as vice president of investor relations and financial planning and analysis for the […]
Census Bureau Releases Two Advance Economic Indicators for July
The U.S. Census Bureau on Friday released advance indicators showing that the international trade deficit increased and that wholesale inventories dipped in July. The international trade deficit was $79.3 billion in July, up $8.3 billion from $71.0 billion in June. Exports of goods for July were $115.0 billion, $12.2 billion more than June exports. Imports […]