Rexel acquires two distributors with locations in Belgium, England and Wales
Bolstering its coverage in several of its established markets, Rexel, Paris, announced acquisitions in Belgium, England and Wales to increase its market coverage in those countries. La Grange is a full-line electrical supply house and lighting specialist in Belgium, while Wilts Wholesale Electrical is reportedly one of the largest independent distributors of electrical supplies operating in England and Wales.
A Rexel press release announcing the La Grange acquisition said the 126-employee, five-branch company based in Gent, Belgium, was founded in 1941 and has an established reputation in the industrial market. The acquisition should generate additional sales of close to €50 million (approximately US$66 million) on an annualized basis. Rexel has 29 branches located across Belgium that in 2011 contributed over €305 million (approximately US $402.7 million) to the Group's consolidated revenues.
Its acquisition of Wilts Wholesale Electrical add 59 branches to its distribution networks in those countries. A press release announcing the acquisition said the deal should generate sales of close to €60 million (approximately US$79.2 million) on an annualized basis. Founded in 1925 and based in Trowbridge (Witshire), Wilts Wholesale Electrical operates through 59 branches located in England and three located in Wales. The family-owned company is one of the largest independent distributors of electrical supplies in the United Kingdom. The press release said Rexel is the largest electrical distributor in the United Kingdom. Operating from over 380 branches located across England, Wales and Scotland, Rexel's activity in the United Kingdom in 2011 contributed over €950 million (approximately US$1.3 billion) to the Group's consolidated revenues and posted 8.1% organic growth.
Rexel operates in 37 countries with a network of 2,100 branches and more than 28,000 people. Its 2011 sales were €12.7 billion (approximately US$16.8 billion). The company's majority shareholders are an investor group led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Eurazeo and BAML Capital Partners.
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Jim Lucy Blog
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Jim Lucy has been wandering through the electrical market for more than 30 years, most of the time as an editor for Electrical Wholesaling, Electrical Marketing newsletter and CEE News. During that time he and the editorial team for the publications have won numerous national awards for their coverage of the electrical business. He showed an early interest in electricity, when as a youth he had an idea for a hot dog cooker. Unfortunately, the first crude prototype malfunctioned and the arc nearly blew him out of his parents' basement. Before becoming an editor for Electrical Wholesaling magazine and Electrical Marketing, he earned a BA degree in journalism and a MA in communications from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ., which is formerly best known as the site of the 1967 summit meeting between President Lyndon Johnson and Russian Premier Aleksei Nikolayevich Kosygin, and now best known as the New Jersey state college that changed its name in 1992 to Rowan University because of a generous $100 million donation by N.J. zillionaire industrialist Henry Rowan. Jim is a Brooklyn-born Jersey Guy happily transplanted in the fertile plains of Kansas for the past 20 years.