MSC Industrial Names Ingersoll Rand Veteran as New CFO

Kristen Actis-Grande takes over financial leadership for the metalworking and MRO products distributor.

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Metalworking and MRO supplies distributor MSC Industrial Supply announced a new chief financial officer on Monday after the position was filled in essentially an interim role for the past eight months.

The company said it has named 17-year Ingersoll Rand veteran Kristen Actis-Grande as MSC's new executive vice president and CFO. The CFO role had been covered by MSC's VP of finance and corporate controller, Greg Clark, since the Jan. 17 departure of Rustom Jilla from that position.

Actis-GrandeActis-GrandeActis-Grande joins MSC after most recently serving as VP of investor relations and financial planning at Ingersoll Rand. Prior to that role, she served as VP of finance for IR's Compression Technologies and Services business. Previously at IR, she served as VP of finance for Residential HVAC and Supply, along with a variety of progressively responsible finance leadership roles across the organization.

Actis-Grande received a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

"Kristen is a talented executive with a track record of driving improved performance, demonstrating leadership and building a strong team," MSC President and CEO Erik Gershwind said. "I am pleased to welcome her to our company and look forward to benefitting from her experience as we transform MSC into a mission-critical partner on the plant floor."

"MSC is a forward-looking company focused on serving all of its key stakeholders. I look forward to contributing to the company's positive culture and long history of success as a leading distributor of MRO products and solutions," Actis-Grande said.

Actis-Grande will be based at MSC's Customer Support Center in Davidson, North Carolina.

MSC had 2019 total sales of $3.4 billion, up 5 percent from 2018, with operating profit of $400 million. The Melville, NY-based company had Q3 2020 sales of $835 million, down 3.6 percent year-over-year amid business impacts from COVID-19 on top of underlying weakened industrial demand, while operating profit was $110 million. Most recently, MSC reported its 2020 July sales figures on Aug. 11, showing that sales for the month totaled $233 million, down 12.6 percent year-over-year. June and July — the first two month's of MSC's fiscal Q4 — totaled sales of $507.5 million, down 14.0 percent year-over-year.

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