WESCO files for initial public offering
By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 2/1/1998
Pittsburgh, Pa.--CDW Holding Corp., the parent company of WESCO Distribution, has filed a request with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of CDW's Class A Common Stock. CDW is a holding company whose principal asset is 100 percent of the stock of WESCO. The firm made the announcement on Dec. 24.In early January, the price of the stock had not been determined, but Jim Piraino, WESCO's vice president of marketing, said the company expects to raise $300 million through the stock offering. The money raised will fuel the company's continuing growth. The company expects its stock to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange in March or April.
WESCO, one of the largest electrical distributors in the country, had sales of $2.3 billion in 1996 and was No. 3 on ID's Top 100 Distributors of 1997 (ID, June, 1997). Since August, 1995, WESCO has completed 11 acquisitions, adding over $500 million in annualized sales. According to the firm, becoming a publicly held corporation will help WESCO attain its goal of becoming the pre-eminent wholesale-distributor of electrical and other products in its chosen markets.
WESCO becomes the latest in a long line of distributors to go public. Industrial Distribution Group, DXP Enterprises, MSC Industrial and Valley National Gases have all gone public recently.
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