Citing the benefits of providing high-margin, low-cost consumables with a broad distribution footprint throughout the U.S. and Canada, industrial supplier MSC Industrial Direct (MSM 0.77%) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Barnes Group's (B 1.11%) North American distribution business for $550 million.

The acquisition announced in February extends MSC's inventory management solutions and product offerings in fasteners and other consumables, while also giving it a significant Canadian presence. With the addition of Barnes' 800 or so field sales reps, the deal also almost doubles the size of MSC's existing sales force.

MSC president and CEO Erik Gershwind said in the press release, "The acquisition of BDNA enables us to provide our mutual customers a deeper inventory management solution, a broader product offering and a larger geographic footprint to help them grow their businesses, increase productivity and reduce their [maintenance, repair and operations] inventory costs."

The purchase was financed with a new credit facility that includes a fully drawn $250 million term loan and a $400 million revolver, of which $120 million was drawn at closing. The transaction is expected to be accretive to cash flow and earnings per share by contributing an expected incremental EPS of $0.15 to $0.20 per share in 2014 and $0.30 to $0.40 per share in 2015. Run-rate cost synergies are expected to reach $15 million to $20 million by 2015.

The Barnes distribution business services roughly 31,000 customers with nearly 1,400 associates and offers more than 55,000 product SKUs. BDNA generated sales of roughly $300 million in 2012.

link