Sonepar North America has announced plans to move aggressively into the Pacific Northwest with a purchase agreement yet to be finalized to buy Eoff Electric Co., headquartered in Salem, Ore. At press time, the acquisition was expected to be completed the week of Sept. 16.
Eoff Electric, with approximately 170 employees in Oregon and Washington, is an 83-year-old company that has been employee-owned since 1999.
The company has nine branch locations in Longview and Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Hillsboro, Wilsonville, Salem, Bend, Eugene and Medford, Ore. It feeds these branches with a central distribution center (CDC). Eoff Electric serves the industrial, automation, MRO and commercial markets in the Pacific Northwest. Currently Eoff has an exclusive distribution arrangement with GE in its territory.
Les Williamson and Victor Bartlett would remain with Eoff, as president and vice president-chief operating officer, respectively. In addition, Jack Mumford, a veteran of the electrical industry, would assume the CEO position at Eoff, while maintaining his Sonepar responsibilities as president of Sonepar USA-Western Region.
Mumford said this would be the first acquisition by Sonepar on the West Coast, as part of the company's strategic plan to build a comprehensive distribution network in that region.
Eoff Electric was founded by Asel Eoff in 1919. Joe Eoff, son of Asel, was the owner and CEO until Aug. 18, 1999, when the employees finalized the purchase of the company. They pledged 74 percent of their available 401K funds to make the purchase possible.
Sonepar is a privately held company headquartered in Paris, France. Currently, Sonepar has 91 branches in the United States located in the South, East and Mid-West, with revenues approaching $1 billion dollars, according to the company.