Continuing its expansion in northern New England, CLS, Hartford, Conn., acquired privately owned Seamans Supply Co., Manchester, N.H., April 1. The acquisition makes CLS-Seamans the largest independent electrical distributor in New England.
The four New Hampshire locations that were previously Seamans will be known as CLS-Seamans for the foreseeable future, according to Lawrence Doughty, CLS's vice president of marketing.
CLS-Seamans, with 47 employees and annual sales of about $15 million, has branches in Manchester, Portsmouth, Laconia and Nashua, N.H.
While CLS has locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, much of its focus in recent years has been on expanding in Massachusetts. It opened its first branch in Massachusetts in West Springfield, about 10 years ago and opened a branch in Weymouth, Mass., within the past few months. The company moved into New Hampshire about two years ago.
The acquisition gives CLS, which has annual sales of $175 million, 18 locations and 285 employees after the acquisition, four new locations in New Hampshire. CLS had existing locations in Concord and Salem, N.H.
Doughty said the acquisition blends “very nicely” into CLS' package of services and market coverage because the four new New Hampshire locations complement the company's existing facilities and are a “natural extension” of its current delivery and replenishment runs that operate from its distribution centers.
The companies are also a good fit because of their similar customer mix, he said. Both are strong contractor-oriented companies with some industrial base.
CLS will continue to look for opportunities that come along in a “wide geographic area,” Doughty said.
“It could be New England next. It could be outside New England where the opportunity presents itself and looks like a good fit for us,” he said.
Doughty added that CLS already operates outside New England through its national accounts division, which has operations in Texas, Ohio and California. He said that while national accounts programs typically focus on companies such as DuPont, Texaco and Mobil Oil, CLS' national accounts problem is different because it is focused on the specialty retailer. The company does lighting and lamps for major national chains, including the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy.
Donald March, Seamans owner, left the business following the sale of the company.