Amid inaugurating a new US President, merger & acquisition and divestment activity in the industrial supply sector remained active. Here on Industrial Distribution, we posted 16 items regarding M&A and divestment activity. That was down from 20 in December and equal to November, but still a solid figure given the natural business tendency to go conservative with M&A activity during a presidential transition.
M&A activity started the month strong and remained so through mid-January, but went quiet over the last one-third of the month until Eaton announced it was buying fellow power supply company Tripp Lite. Eleven of the items were announced on either Jan. 4, 5, 11 or 19.
Below, see what we covered in January in reverse chronological order of their announcement:
- Eaton Buying Power & Connectivity Supplier Tripp Lite for $1.7B - Jan. 29
- Lane Supply Acquires Palmetto Compressors in South Carolina - Jan. 19
- Office Depot Counters Staples' Latest Offer With One of Its Own - Jan. 19
- Sandvik Acquires Stake in AI Manufacturing Software Company Oqton - Jan. 15
- Speedtech Grows Considerably With Acquisition of Toleeto Fasteners - Jan. 11
- Hillenbrand Slims Down by Selling Abel Pumps, Red Valve Businesses - Jan. 11
- PPG to Acquire German Coatings Maker Wörwag - Jan. 11
- CWC Expands Cross-Country Reach, Acquires Virginia's G/A Safety Supply - Jan. 5
- Distribution International Acquires Fellow Insulation Distributor RB - Jan. 5
- Applied Acquires Automation Distributor Gibson Engineering - Jan. 5
- Van Meter Acquires Fellow Electrical Distributor in Kansas - Jan. 4
- Walter Surface Technologies Acquires Drillco, Triumph Twist Drill - Jan. 4
- CD&R to Buy Wolseley UK in $420M Carve-Out from Ferguson - Jan. 4
- Motion & Control Enterprises Acquires Cleveland's Diversified Air Systems - Dec. 31 (posted on ID Jan. 5)
- Imperial Dade to Acquire Industrial Soap Company - Dec. 30 (posted on ID Jan. 4)
- Wajax Acquires Maintenance Supplier Tundra Process Solutions - Dec. 30 (posted on ID Jan. 4)
Note: ID's office was closed Dec. 25-Jan. 1, so a handful of late December news announcements were published on ID until early January.
See our December M&A recap here
Check out our November M&A recap here
Check out our October M&A recap here
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.
