WESCO begins trading on NYSE; will continue expansion strategy
WESCO chairman Roy Haley rang the opening bell on the NYSE the day his company started trading.
By Industrial Distribution Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 6/1/1999
PITTSBURGH, PA.--WESCO International, Inc. began a new era with an initial public offering of 9.7 million shares on May 12. Its trading symbol on the New York Stock Exchange is WCC.Chairman Roy Haley rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to begin trading and shares opened at $18 each - rising to $20 by the day's end. Haley says the IPO will set groundwork for future growth by allowing WESCO to pay down debt. The IPO also adds flexibility to finance more acquisitions. WESCO also expects to benefit from an improved bond rating.
"This has been a process that caps a revitalization of our organization," Haley said. "In a way this is a success story that goes to those who are providing services on the front lines. We're in very good shape with our financial capacity, which in the long term gives us a lot of flexibility to fund our growth."
The firm's subsidiary, WESCO Distribution, Inc., had $3.02 billion in revenue during 1998 and acquired six companies with revenues of more than $600 million during the year. WESCO, the second largest electrical distributor in North America, accumulated nearly $52 million in one-time expenses during an investor-led buyout a year ago.
The IPO included a directed share program with employees eligible to buy up to seven percent of the stock.
Haley says WESCO's strategy will remain intact: to extend "our national-account oriented marketing program in multiple product categories and continue building our integrated supply categories with existing customers and new ones that significantly want to enhance their supply chains primarily for indirect procurement. We'll also continue to be very active in building and enhancing our electrical business to serve multi-market customers in various areas."
He said the excitement of the first trading day was tempered temporarily by the market's initial drop from news of Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin's resignation that morning.
"It was a great day ... the only thing that was troubling was I had the opportunity to do the opening bell and then the market fell like a rock," he said, referring to a slide of more than 200 points. The market recovered later that day.
Haley has good reason to be concerned with any market slide. After the offering, his 4.65 million WESCO shares were worth just shy of $100 million.
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