Industrial Distribution's past two monthly recaps of merger & acquisition news in the industrial supply market included 40+ items — 21 in February and 20 in January. But if you came here expecting to find a similar rundown for March, you'll be sorely disappointed. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on capital spending appears to be in full force among US industrial activity, resulting in a scant few items in this month's recap.
In fact, there were just five M&A-related news items ID reported on during March, and there was a four week gap between the first three and the last two. Those items are below:
- Fastenal Buys Assets of Apex Industrial Technologies - posted March 31.
- HD Supply Postpones Separation; CEO Waves Salary - posted March 30. Technically not a merger or acquisition, but I'm including divestment news in these monthly recaps as well.
- Core & Main Acquires California Waterworks Distributor R&B Co. - posted March 3
- AD, SafetyNetwork Merger Approved - posted March 3
- Ingersoll Rand Industrial, Gardner Denver Complete Merger - posted March 2
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Better late than never, at least March went out with a bang, in terms of the Fastenal and HD Supply news. The minuscule amount of M&A announcements in March certainly wasn't for lack of reporting. Despite ID's numerous news sources we use to find such M&A news, there was simply none to be had after the first week of the month. It appears industrial distributors and suppliers got ahead of the curve when it came to business shutdowns amid virus safety measures that ramped up over the past three weeks, either pausing or delaying planned acquisition and expansion activity.
ID posted 21 news items about M&A activity in February, following 20 in January. This is by no means a complete list of every M&A deal announced in the industrial supply space in February. Despite our best efforts, there’s always deals announced that either wasn’t on our radar, or that weren’t made public. But, this list should provide a good idea of most M&A activity applicable to the industrial supply market.
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Stay safe out there.
