Kendall Electric purchases Ohio electrical equipment distributor

Kendall Electric purchases Ohio electrical equipment distributor

PORTAGE — Kendall Electric Inc. acquired an Ohio-based distributor of electrical equipment.

The deal for Dayton, Ohio-based The Becker Electric Co. closed in January, according to a statement on Kendall’s website. The Portage-based Kendall Electric noted that business at both companies will “transact as usual.”

Becker serves as a full-line wholesale electrical equipment distributor offering switchgear, lighting, automation and electrical supplies for contractors and industrial and commercial customers. It operates from eight locations in Ohio, Indiana and Georgia.

Before its sale to Kendall, the company was in its third generation of ownership by the Becker family, according to a statement from investment banking firm ArkMalibu LLC, which served as the financial adviser for Becker Electric in the transaction.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to ArkMalibu, the Becker family was approached by several parties about acquiring the company.

“The family desired an acquirer that ensured long-term stability, continued growth and a similar employee-oriented corporate culture to drive success for Becker Electric’s customers, employees and supplies,” according to a statement.

The employee-owned Kendall Electric is a full-line electrical wholesale distributor, serving the industrial, manufacturing and construction sectors since 1930. The company has West Michigan locations in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Muskegon, plus others in Michigan, as well as sites in Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio.

A representative of Kendall Electric could not be reached for comment on this story.