Electrical Marketing's LiveWire

ABB is still on the hunt for more acquisitions in the United States and wants to bolster its automation business, according to this Reuters report.

Dakota Supply Group, Fargo, N.D., has acquired Wisconsin-based W.A. Roosevelt, a distributor of plumbing, electrical and HVAC products. W.A. Roosevelt, which has almost 100 employees, has locations in La Crosse, Madison, New Berlin, Plover and Rice Lake, Wis. The company was founded in 1868.
According to a DSG press release announcing the acquisition, W.A. Roosevelt will retain its name and staff, and while it will become a division of DSG, virtually all other proceedings will be “business as usual” for customers and manufacturers alike. This new partnership will add Wisconsin and the northern Michigan to DSG’s service area, which currently includes Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota, as well as portions of Iowa, Wyoming and Montana.
Established in 1898, the employee-owned DSG sells not only electrical products but plumbing, HVAC, communications, utility, metering technology, automation, and waterworks products. The company has 400 employees and was ranked #39 on EW’s most recent Top 200 listing.

Wow … What a way to start the week.
According to a Business Wire release on the acquistion, “The complementary combination of Thomas & Betts’ electrical components and ABB’s low-voltage protection, control and measurement products would create a broader low-voltage portfolio that can be distributed through Thomas & Betts’ network of more than 6,000 distributor locations and wholesalers in North America, and through ABB’s well established distribution channels in Europe and Asia. The combined product portfolio and enhanced distribution network will enable ABB to double its addressable market in North America to approximately $24 billion.”
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Home Depot, Atlanta, purchased RedBeacon, Mateo, Calif., an online home services platform connecting consumers with contractors for their home maintenance, repair and remodeling needs. Electrical work is one of these services.
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In the electrical market’s first acquistion of 2012, Fluke Corp., Everett, Wash., announced plans to acquire Martel Electronics Corp., a Derry, N.H.-based manufacturer of testing equipment. This Marketwire reports says Martel and Fluke have been working together since 1996.

WESCO International Inc., Pittsburgh, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RS Electronics, Livonia, Mich., a distributor of electronic and electrical products serving the industrial, medical equipment, automotive and contract manufacturing end markets. The company has eight branches located in the Midwest and Southeast and forecasted 2011 sales of approximately $60 million. The deal is expected to close next month.
In a press statement, John Engel, WESCO’s chairman and CEO, said, “Along with our acquisitions of Carlton Bates in 2005 and AA Electric in 2008, RS Electronics expands our industrial OEM customer base and electronic-based product offerings.”

Irby, Jackson, Miss., a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, today signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Treadway Electric of Little Rock, Ark., effective Jan. 1. Established in 1905, is Arkansas’ oldest electrical distributor and employs over 100 employees in 14 locations throughout the state of Arkansas.