RS Group plc, a global provider of product and service solutions, expands its presence in continental Europe with the acquisition of Distrelec, a high-service, digital-led distributor of industrial and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products, for a cash and debt free value of €365 millions.
Distrelec serves approximately 180.000 customers across 19 countries, significantly expanding RS’s presence in continental Europe, especially in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Headquartered in Manchester, UK, Distrelec has approximately 400 employees and 12 sales offices across Europe. It also operates two distribution centres in Switzerland and the Netherlands and a shared service centre in Latvia. The company is a complementary business to RS with a comparable product mix and customer-centric focus, plus industry-leading product availability. Similar to RS, two thirds of Distrelec’s revenue are from digital channels and the average order value is also comparable to RS. This strong competitive position increases RS’s revenue by c. 40% in DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), c. 80% in Scandinavia, and adds scale in Italy, Benelux and Eastern Europe.
There is a high degree of overlap in the largely European supplier base, and the combined distribution network will improve the customer experience and operational efficiency of both RS and Distrelec. In addition, there will be increased revenue synergies from cross‐selling opportunities of RS’s own brand and solutions offer.
Distrelec will be integrated into the Group’s EMEA region, overseen by Peter Malpas, President EMEA, RS, with key members of Distrelec’s management team including Raj Patel, Managing Director of Distrelec, and Ben Scholey, chief information officer of the company.
Simon Pryce, CEO of RS Group, commented: “The acquisition of Distrelec materially strengthens our presence in key European markets. It is a complementary business to RS and has excellent value creation potential with a strong cultural and operational fit. Like RS, Distrelec promotes a high‐performance culture with good levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. We look forward to welcoming the Distrelec team to the group and realising the significant value creation potential that comes from bringing RS and Distrelec together”.