Viking Electric Supply/Sonepar, Minneapolis, purchased Boggis-Johnson Electric Co., Milwaukee, expanding its reach into Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin. The deal, which closed Jan. 18, gives Viking Electric nine locations in Wisconsin, as well as 11 locations in Minnesota for a total of 20 branches.
Boggis-Johnson, with approximately 50 employees and one location, is a family-owned business that has served the contractor and industrial markets for more than 90 years. The company is ranked No. 152, according to Electrical Wholesaling magazine’s listing of the 2005 Top 200 electrical distributors. The company typically ranks as one of the highest "sales-per-employee" distributors in the electrical wholesaling industry.
Sonepar, which owns Viking, already has a large presence in the Upper Midwest through Viking and Brook Electrical in metropolitan Chicago. "This merger will also provide a base for future growth opportunities for Boggis and Viking in the southeastern region of Wisconsin," said Greg Hames, president of Viking Electric Supply.
"Viking has been charged by Sonepar to look for expansion opportunities in the Midwest region through organic growth or other profitable acquisitions where it makes sense. Sonepar will continue to expand their presence in the U.S. market and utilize their existing platform businesses to integrate these new acquisitions into the Sonepar family of companies," he said.
Jeff Wanner has accepted a position as regional director for the Southeastern Wisconsin market. He will lead the Boggis Johnson organization and is charged with managing future growth and expansion opportunities in this region. Wanner has been with Viking since 1999 as the sales manager for the Twin Cities construction sales team. That group is the largest business entity within Viking Electric and has almost doubled in size under Wanner's leadership. Wanner will report directly to Hames in his new role and will be relocating to Milwaukee with his family.
Boggis-Johnson’s President, Ned Timarac, will remain with the company as well.
This is the second largest independent distributor that Sonepar USA has acquired in the past year. In September 2005, Sonepar acquired Stuart Irby, Jackson, Miss.