Merger & acquisition among industrial products distributors and suppliers appears to have rebounded nicely after a spring slowdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with October churning along at a healthy clip.
There was hardly any M&A news for Industrial Distribution to cover during April through June amid the worst of the pandemic's business impacts, but things began to pick up in June and July, and over the past three months, we're essentially back to the amount of announcements that we were accustomed to seeing in this continuously consolidating market pre-pandemic.
Industrial Distribution covered 11 industrial supply M&A announcements during October, compared to 12 in September, 11 in August and eight in July. Six of them happened during the first week of the month.
Below, see what we covered in October, in chronological order of their announcement:
- Cummins-Wagner Completes F.R. Mahony Acquisition - announced Oct. 29
- Würth Industry North America Acquires Louisiana's Techni-Tool - announced Oct. 27
- HD Supply, White Cap Separation Finalized in $4 Billion Deal - announced Oct. 19
- Consolidated Machine & Tool Acquires Fellow Precision Machining Supplier - announced Oct. 19
- Entegra Attachments Acquires Winch, Reducer Supplier Bloom Manufacturing - announced Oct. 12
- Applied Adds to Automation Offering, Acquires Distributor Advanced Control Solutions - announced Oct. 7
- Winsupply Boosts New England Capabilities, Acquires Avon Supply - announced Oct. 6
- Caterpillar to Buy Weir Oil & Gas for $405M - announced Oct. 5
- BlackHawk Industrial Stays Busy, Acquires D&L Supply - announced Oct. 5
- Brady Industries Expands Further, Acquires Mission Janitorial & Abrasive Supplies - announced Oct. 5
- Endries International Inks 3rd Bolt-On of 2020: K&L Sales - announced Oct. 1
No matter the outcome of the US presidential election — which is Nov. 3, though we may not know the result until the end of this week — I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a general pause or slowdown in industrial supply M&A activity until the industry has a good idea of what President Trump or Joe Biden's plans are regarding economic policy going forward.
Check out our September M&A recap here
Oh, and in case you haven't seen it yet, check out ID's 2020 Big 50 List here, or watch our video countdown here: Part 1 (#50-31), Part 2 (30-11), Part 3 (10-1).
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.
If your company has M&A news to share, M&A or otherwise, contact ID editor Mike Hockett at [email protected].
As always, the best way to stay on top of industrial supply M&A news is to make sure you're subscribed to ID's free daily e-newsletter.
