Hagemeyer to acquire Cameron & Barkley

Hagemeyer (Naarden, The Netherlands) — an European business-to-business electrical distribution and services group — signed a Letter of Intent to acquire 100% ownership of Cameron & Barkley (Charleston, SC) — a US distributor of industrial, electrical, safety and other MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) products. The proposed acquisition is still subject to approval by Cameron & Barkley's employee-owners. Terms were not disclosed.

Cameron & Barkley has annualized revenues of approximately $850 million. It operates in 24 US states, predominantly in the Southeast, but also in the northern Midwest and Northwest, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1865, Cameron & Barkley has been 100% employee-owned since 1983. Cameron & Barkley currently has 2,080 full-time employee-owners.

Hagemeyer PPS North America
Cameron & Barkley will form part of Hagemeyer PPS North America, a subsidiary of the Group's Professional Products and Services division. Other units within this group include Tristate and Vallen, both of which were acquired in November 1999.

Tristate Electrical & Electronic Supply Company, Inc. (Hagerstown, MD) has sales of $200 million and over 500 employees. It operates in 34 branches in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Vallen (Houston, TX) has sales of $450 million and nearly 1,300 employees. Vallen manufactures and distributes safety products at 171 locations throughout the US, Mexico and Canada.

Headquarted in The Netherlands, Hagemeyer is a global distribution group with 1999 revenues of EUR 6.4 billion and 17,000 employees operating in more than 60 countries around the world. The Group's operations are centered around two core business-to-business areas: Professional Products and Services (PPS) and Information Technology Products and Services (ITPS).

Edited by: Jerry R. Borland, P.E.