Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1059224
OWN IT | AD Today 2018 | 81 Similar values and go-to-market strategies help make the sale of AD members to other AD independent distributors a recipe for strength and success. As Pittsburgh, PA-based Ceiling Systems Distributors (CSD), Inc. surveyed its market challenges and opportunities several years ago, its next move became crystal clear. In August 2015, leadership of the independent distributor, with four locations throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania, sold their business to another AD independent distributor, Interior Supply, Inc. and they haven't looked back since. "It just made perfect sense to sell to another AD member," explained Jim Cauley, General Manager, Pennsylvania at Interior Supply, Inc, regarding CSD's decision. "As fellow independents competing with private equity companies, we both shared an 'us against them' mentality. Independence was a big part of our corporate cultures and selling in basically the same markets with the same products enabled us to understand each other from a corporate culture standpoint, which helped with the assimilation of Ceiling Systems into Interior Supply, Inc. While change isn't easy in any business climate," Cauley conceded, "there was a comfort level with the employees on both sides. Employees are the most important asset in any business so when employees are happy, new operating systems and policies are accepted and embraced." Selling to another AD independent proved to be a similarly optimal strategy for Anaheim, CA-based Bell Pipe & Supply Co. Inc., a 62-year-old company facing the realities of flat sales, growing competition, and an aging workforce. "In early 2017, due to the tremendous assets Bell had created through its business practices, a strategic purchase of our company was considered, but at about that time a well- respected AD member showed interest," said Branch Manager Franklin M. Bell III, who confirmed that the sale of their company to Bakersfield Pipe and Supply – now the BPS Supply Group – was finalized in February 2018. Since then, "it's amazing to see how the cultures of both of our companies were so similar – from the founders' ethics, goals, and backgrounds to basic business philosophies like treating customers, employees, and vendors fairly," Bell said. "Knowing that our company's legacy could and would continue helped ease some of the angst of letting go of a 60-year-old family tradition." According to John Diaz, co- founder of Tampa, FL-based Impact Industrial Supply with his wife in 1991, selling his company to fellow AD member Stellar Industrial Supply in June 2015 gave both companies the geographic presence and reach they each desired. "At Impact Industrial Supply, we had good customers in Florida who wanted us in other markets that we didn't serve and I knew that we needed to grow in order to remain viable," shared "It just made perfect sense to sell to another AD member. As fellow independents competing with private equity companies, we both shared an 'us against them' mentality." – Jim Cauley, Interior Supply, Inc. Continued on page 83 Jim Cauley General Manager Pennsylvania Interior Supply, Inc. Ke epin g I n d ep en d en t s I n d ep en d en t MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS