Hughes to Spearhead Border States Acquisition Efforts

Border States apparently is seeking to accelerate its growth and is increasing its focus on mergers / acquisitions with the appointment of Aaron Hughes as their point person to drive acquisition activity.

According to its press release, “Aaron Hughes, former owner of Advance Electrical Supply and Area Director at Border States, has been promoted to Mergers and Acquisitions Director effective October 1, 2024.

Hughes started his career in the electrical industry with Power & Generation Testing, performing acceptance and maintenance testing at substations and large industrial end users in the southeast. He graduated from Tennessee Tech with an electrical engineering degree and Northwestern with his Master of Business Administration, as well as working in various roles with Square D and Siemens before purchasing Advance Electrical Supply in 2015 with Michael Mayworm.

In this new role, Hughes will act as a strategic partner in driving Border States’ growth strategy by identifying, evaluating and executing mergers and acquisitions. Hughes brings a unique perspective to the position as the former owner of a company acquired by Border States. Since the acquisition of Advance Electrical, Hughes has worked as Area Director for Border States’ Illinois/Indiana Area.”

Over the past 3 1/2 years the company has made three acquisitions – Sequel Electric, Winston Engineering, and Dominion Electric. Previously notable acquisitions included Advance Electrical in Chicago, Kriz Davis, Shealy Electric, and many years ago, Harris Electric to name some.

So, the question becomes, why and where?

Border States has shared that it wants to increase growth to $5 billion in the near future and be a “Top 5” distributor.

So, where and what to buy.’

Some thoughts:

• Border States has shared with many that they have a plan to build regional distribution centers. Knowing where and when may provide an indication of where they want to make acquisitions given that the value of an RDC is when the distribution center can increase inventory turns and support a broader customer base.
• Whom to acquire? Given Hughes’ background, it could be contractor-oriented distributors. Or given Border States’ strength in the utility market and the growth potential in that market, perhaps it seeks to consolidate smaller utility houses or electrical distributors that also have some utility business … even if they only serve rural co-ops. Another thought is service organizations similar to Winston Engineering?

Congratulations to Aaron and “happy hunting.”