Barnes Group acquires Curtis Industries

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 6/1/2000

Bristol, Conn.-In a move to expand its distribution business, Connecticut-based Barnes Group acquired MRO and security products distributor Curtis Industries for $62.1 million last month. The deal was announced in late April and closed May 11.

Curtis Industries will be combined with Barnes Group's Bowman Distribution division to form Barnes Distribution. Bowman and Curtis, both headquartered in Cleveland, appear in ID's 2000 Top 100 Distributors list this month (p.51)-Bowman at No. 37, with sales of $230.4 million and Curtis at No. 65, with $83.5 million.

Top leaders at the new organization are Keith Drewett and Idelle Wolf. Drewett-who was president and CEO at Curtis-has been named president, and Wolf-who was senior vice president and CFO at Curtis-has been named CEO. Bowman Distribution president Cedric Beckett has left the company, according to Barnes Group spokesman Stephen McKelvey.

"It's a great fit," Drewett said of the acquisition, noting the complementary strengths of the two companies. Both are broad-line MRO distributors, but Curtis is a strong supplier to auto dealerships and truck fleets, while Bowman does considerable business with utilities, railroads and other industries.

"Acquiring industry-leading MRO supply companies like Curtis Industries will help the Barnes Group to increase our distribution market leadership and continue to expand our presence globally," Barnes Group president and CEO Edmund M. Carpenter said in a separate statement.

The acquisition represents a change in strategy for Curtis Industries. The firm had been looking to grow by making acquisitions of its own, but decided to turn the tables recently after finding a "lack of value out there in acquisition candidates," said Drewett.

"We thought we'd look at it from the other way," he said. "We thought about being purchased ... talked to our financial backers, and they came to the same view."

Among the new company's combined strengths is its sales force-and Drewett stressed that those will continue to be run separately. Barnes Distribution will have over 1,000 field sales and service people in North America, according to Drewett.

The new firm may consolidate some operations. In addition to being headquartered in Cleveland, Bowman and Curtis both have major distribution centers in Louisville, Ky., Toronto, Ontario, and the United Kingdom.

"There's a possibility that we would combine these in the future," says Drewett. "We've been open with employees that we may do that."

Barnes Group is a diversified manufacturer of precision metal parts and distributor of industrial supplies serving a wide range of markets and customers. The firm consists of three separate businesses with total 1999 sales of $622 million.