Situation Overview:
The sole owner of a successful and rapidly growing, privately-owned industrial distributor of waterworks products, including pipes, valves and hydrants, was looking to sell the business.
Our Client:
- United Water Works, Inc. (https://unitedwaterworks.com/) (“United”) is a privately-owned value-added regional distributor of water, fire protection, sewer and storm drain materials based in Santa Ana, California.
- Founded in 1983 as Well Supply Co. and rebranded in 2014, United has been led by Mr. Jerry Canada since 2017 after taking over the business from his father who was a co-founder.
- United’s warehouse, strategically located near major interstates in Orange County, California, has allowed it to successfully address the infrastructure needs of a diversified customer base of primarily commercial contractors and municipalities.
- Mr. Canada had worked in the business for over 35 years and since he had no internal succession plan, he decided to sell the Company.
The Goal:
- Maximize the value for the Company while ensuring the future success of the business by selling it to a strong future owner in a highly confidential process.
- Conduct a formal sale process soliciting interest from the largest, most acquisitive strategic buyers simultaneously.
The Outcome:
- United was successfully sold to Ferguson Enterprises, (https://www.ferguson.com/), a distributor of plumbing and heating products in the United States and Canada. Ferguson is a publicly traded company (NYSE: FERG) generating approximately $30 billion in annual revenue.
- Ferguson acquired United to solidify its market position in Southern California and to capitalize on potential cross-selling opportunities with United’s customer base.
- Ferguson has a long history of successful acquisitions and has completed more than fifty acquisitions in the last five years. The large, fragmented markets in which Ferguson operates comprise 10,000+ small to medium ($10-300 million revenue) independent companies across Ferguson’s nine customer groups in North America.
- Jerry Canada, Owner & President of United said, “We are thankful to our dedicated employees as well as to our long-term customers and suppliers. They have without question been key to our success. We look forward to continuing to provide outstanding service and expanding our offering and capabilities as part of Ferguson. Joining Ferguson will provide significant growth opportunities for our team-members and enhance their careers.”
- He added, “We also sincerely appreciate the job done by our investment banking firm, Calabasas Capital, led by David Bonrouhi, who was by my side every step of the way. They understood our business and their knowledge of every aspect of the deal process was invaluable.”
