Reading Roundup … Acquisitions, Apps, Energy and a History of Graybar

Something to catch us up a little … a little Reader’s Roundup covering recent (and pending) acquisitions which may accelerate in generating announcements between now and the end of the year, Sonepar’s internship program, apps for electricians (which could be a value-added on your website), an interesting e-video (WikiPlay) on Graybar and “do you ‘walk the talk’ when promoting energy efficiency?”

And to get started …

• Acquisition activity continues to close out the year strong with

• WinWholesale buying Lloyd Graves – WinWholesale hasn’t made any acquisitions in the electrical market (and few historically) but this may have resulted from IMARK’s IMARK First program (IMARK members seeking to acquire other IMARK members … an introduction service).  WinWholesale has an interesting ownership structure where WinWholesale corporately owns a percentage of the company, the operating president owns a percentage and typically there is another entity that owns a percentage. We don’t know exactly what happened here, however, it is an interesting model for single branch distributors / small distributors that could enable a “#2” leader in the company (non-ownership) to acquire the business.

• We’re hearing from multiple distributors and reps of 3 deals in due diligence / final negotiation in the New England area.  A couple of the parties wouldn’t deny the activity, however, since it has not been publicly shared via a press release, we’ll refrain from mentioning names.

• WESCO closed their EECOL deal in Canada.

• Richard Worthy’s non-compete with USESI / CED / The Coburn family (we don’t know how it was written) expired in November and he’s back on the trail.  We’ve heard of a handful of people who he has already met with and at least one offer that was made.  Is third time a charm?

With only two weeks left in the year, what other deals are you hearing? What do you think the 2013 activity will be?

• Interested in developing an internship program? Check out this video from Sonepar that discusses it from a participant viewpoint and outlines the path to success.
• Mike Holt, the industry’s reknown electrical code specialist, recently compiled a list of smartphone apps for contractors / electricians.  He has apps for those with iPhones and one for those with Androids.  Click here and then click on your phone software.
• I was surfing the web and ran across this interesting video on Graybar’s history, dating back to post Civil War.  Lots of detail (21 minutes) and the voice is a little robotic, but if you’re a Graybar employee, this is interesting. For those of you who are not, it is an interesting history of how the industry evolved. I wonder if Graybar promotes this history in its customer marketing initiatives.
• In promoting your energy efficiency capabilities to your customers, do you “walk the talk” … conducting an audit of your facilities, implementing a retrofit and document savings … and then promote the results via a case study?  WESCO Binghamtom did (check out the case study).