Affiliated Distributors (AD), Wayne, Pa., has signed a letter of intent to merge with the Canadian electrical buying group, Independent Electrical Distributors (IED). AD said in a press statement that the merger significantly strengthens the market position of electrical independents in Canada and that when it’s completed, members will commands 23% of the total market.
Bill Weisberg, AD’s Chairman and CEO, said in that press release, “AD’s model has always attracted market leaders and quality distributors. The merger with IED will strengthen the entire AD group and we are excited to welcome these great companies and people to the AD family.”
Jim Milne, IED’s current president, will manage the newly combined Canadian group as AD’s president of the Canadian division and report to David Oldfather, president of the AD’s Electrical divisions. Milne said in the press release, “We’ve always had a great deal of respect for the AD Canada distributors, and now that we have the opportunity to join into a single entity, the collective strength of this group will allow even further market penetration and growth beyond what would be possible by the two separate groups. As IED, we also bring to the group a long-standing, successful Customer Rewards Program, a well-known differentiator in the contractor community, and a proven way to gain and retain mindshare.”
AD’s Canadian Electrical division was formed in 1992 by a merger with Copel, a Canadian buying/marketing group, and currently includes 16 distributors operating 143 branch locations that do $750 million in annual sales. The roots of IED go back to 1965. Not counting EECOL, which was recently acquired by WESCO, IED is currently comprised of 36 companies with 90 branches and a reported volume of approximately $800 million. Combined, AD and IED electrical distributors do more than $1.5 billion in Canada. AD’s total electrical sales in North America are more than$13 billion.