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Most Active Acquirers of Industrial Distribution and MRO Companies (2026)

The acquirers that announced the most purchases of U.S. and Canadian industrial distribution and MRO companies between Nov 1, 2025 and Oct 25, 2026, with every deal linked to its source.

Laurent Capital Research | Updated

Key findings

  • DXP Enterprises (public company) was the most active acquirer, with 7 announced deals.
  • We recorded 91 announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian companies by 67 distinct acquirers.
  • 15 acquirers announced two or more deals; together they account for 43% of the deals recorded.
  • Private equity-backed acquirers made 33% of the deals.
91
Announced acquisitions recorded
67
Distinct acquirers
15
Acquirers with two or more deals
33%
Of deals made by PE-backed acquirers

Scope. Distributors of industrial and MRO supplies: fluid power, bearings and power transmission, automation and motion control, fasteners, cutting tools, safety products, pipe, valves and fittings, electrical, packaging and janitorial supplies, and welding gases. HVAC and plumbing supply distribution is excluded.

Coverage. Coverage relies heavily on reporting by Industrial Distribution and Modern Distribution Management; parts of their archives could not be retrieved, so May to October 2026 is likely under-covered. HVAC and plumbing supply distributors are excluded.

The ranking

Ranking: most active acquirers of industrial distribution and MRO companies
RankAcquirerOwnershipDealsLatest
1DXP EnterprisesPublic company7Aug 4, 2026
2Singer IndustrialPrivate strategic3Oct 1, 2026
2Meritus Gas PartnersPE-backed3Sep 2, 2026
2Midland IndustriesPE-backedGemspring Capital3Sep 1, 2026
2Ferguson EnterprisesPublic company3May 5, 2026
6Distribution Solutions GroupPublic companyLKCM Headwater Investments2Oct 13, 2026
6TIPCO TechnologiesPE-backed2Sep 1, 2026
6GraybarPrivate strategic2Jul 17, 2026
6Value Added DistributorsPE-backedRotunda Capital Partners2Jul 16, 2026
6Tencarva Machinery CompanyPrivate strategic2Apr 22, 2026
6AirgasPublic company2Mar 27, 2026
6ORS NascoPE-backedWynnchurch Capital2Mar 6, 2026
6Atlas CopcoPublic company2Mar 3, 2026
6Dissan GroupPrivate strategic2Jan 19, 2026
6Ascent LiftingPE-backedShorehill Capital2Dec 16, 2025

Announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian companies, Nov. 1, 2025 to Oct. 25, 2026. Acquirers with equal counts share a rank. Sponsor shown is the private equity owner of the acquirer at the time of its deals, where disclosed.

Announced deals by acquirer
DXP Enterprises7Singer Industrial3Meritus Gas Partners3Midland Industries3Ferguson Enterprises3Distribution Solutions Group2TIPCO Technologies2Graybar2Value Added Distributors2Tencarva Machinery Company2Airgas2ORS Nasco2Atlas Copco2Dissan Group2Ascent Lifting2

Top 15 acquirers by number of announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian industrial distribution and MRO companies, Nov 1, 2025 to Oct 25, 2026. Source: Laurent Capital Research.

Deals by acquirer

Each deal links to the press release or report it was taken from. Dates are announcement dates.

  1. 1

    DXP Enterprises

    7 deals | Public company

  2. 2

    Singer Industrial

    3 deals | Private strategic

  3. 2

    Meritus Gas Partners

    3 deals | PE-backed

  4. 2

    Midland Industries

    3 deals | PE-backed, Gemspring Capital

  5. 2

    Ferguson Enterprises

    3 deals | Public company

    • Technology Sales Associates, Inc. | Nashua, NH | water/wastewater manufacturers' sales rep agencyborderline fit, report dateSource: Modern Distribution Management
    • Chesapeake Environment Group (Chesapeake Environmental Equipment) | Laurel, MD | water/wastewater treatment equipment manufacturers' rep agencyborderline fit, report dateSource: Modern Distribution Management
    • PRD Technologies Group (Portersville PRD, Basin Valve - Blair Martin) | New Castle, PA | industrial valves and instrumentation manufacturers' rep (10 service centers)report dateSource: Modern Distribution Management
  6. 6

    Distribution Solutions Group

    2 deals | Public company, LKCM Headwater Investments

  7. 6

    TIPCO Technologies

    2 deals | PE-backed

  8. 6

    Graybar

    2 deals | Private strategic

  9. 6

    Value Added Distributors

    2 deals | PE-backed, Rotunda Capital Partners

    • Exotic Automation & Supply | MI | fluid power and automation distributor (20 locations MI, IN)Source: Business Wire
    • L.T.L. Supply | Green Bay, WI | wire harness and electrical assembly manufacturer/distributorborderline fitSource: Industrial Distribution
  10. 6

    Tencarva Machinery Company

    2 deals | Private strategic

  11. 6

    Airgas

    2 deals | Public company

  12. 6

    ORS Nasco

    2 deals | PE-backed, Wynnchurch Capital

  13. 6

    Atlas Copco

    2 deals | Public company

    • Cypress Equipment Rental Inc. | LA | portable compressor distributor/rental (oil & gas, petrochemical)borderline fitSource: Industrial Distribution
    • Air Compressor Works Inc. | Riviera Beach, FL | compressed air equipment distributor and serviceborderline fit, report dateSource: Industrial Distribution
  14. 6

    Dissan Group

    2 deals | Private strategic

  15. 6

    Ascent Lifting

    2 deals | PE-backed, Shorehill Capital

Other acquirers in the period

52 further acquirers announced 52 deals in this niche.

  • Advantage Distribution Holdings acquired Badger Metals Inc. | WIborderline fitSource
  • Lonestar Electric Supply acquired Redstone Electric Supply | Huntsville, ALclosing dateSource
  • Triad Technologies acquired Filtration Corporation of America | ILborderline fitSource
  • EMCO Chemical Distributors acquired Pride Chemical Solutions | Holtsville, NYborderline fitSource
  • Falcon Gases acquired Encore Gas & Supply | Long Beach, CASource
  • Cummins-Wagner acquired Syracuse Thermal Products Inc. | Syracuse, NYborderline fitSource
  • SureWerx acquired American Safety Clothing | PAborderline fitSource
  • OTC Industrial Technologies acquired Global Energy Solutions (GES) | Oklahoma City, OKSource
  • Lubker Distribution acquired Fastening Products of Lancaster | Lancaster, PASource
  • Electrical Equipment Company (EECO) acquired Foster Electric | Lynchburg, VASource
  • Portland Bolt & Manufacturing acquired Threadline Products Inc. | Charlotte, NCborderline fitSource
  • IBT Industrial Solutions acquired Indesco Inc. | Charlotte, NCreport dateSource
  • Affiliated Distributors (AD) acquired SupplyForce | PAborderline fitSource
  • Endries International acquired Blue Chip Engineered Products | Erlanger, KYreport dateSource
  • The Master Group acquired Distributor Corporation of New England (DCNE) | MAborderline fitSource
  • Motion & Control Enterprises acquired TLR Hydraulics Inc. | Dallas, TXborderline fitSource
  • A&M Industrial acquired Tool-Krib Supply Company | NJSource
  • Imperial Dade acquired Enterprise Paper | BCSource
  • Rensa Filtration acquired Air Filters Northwest and AFNW Services | Portland, ORborderline fit, report dateSource
  • Hillman Solutions acquired Campbell Chain & Fittings (from Apex Tool Group) | PAborderline fitSource
  • Holston Gases acquired Athens Gas and Welding Supply Inc. | Athens, GASource
  • Hills Distribution acquired Bender Plumbing Supply | New Haven, CTborderline fitSource
  • AFC Industries acquired Allied Inventory Systems | McKinney, TXborderline fitSource
  • SouthernCarlson acquired Greenwald Supply Direct | MDborderline fitSource
  • Sonepar USA acquired Shaw Supply | Kansas City, MOreport dateSource
  • All Metals Fabricating (with investors) acquired Meister Supply Company (now Power Electric Supply Company) | TXborderline fit, report dateSource
  • Tavoron acquired Doig Corp. | WISource
  • Aberdeen Dynamics acquired East Texas Seals | Van, TXSource
  • Border States acquired WEDCO | northern NevadaSource
  • S.W. Anderson Company acquired Aero-Space Computer Supplies | MNreport dateSource
  • IEWC acquired Simcona | Rochester, NYreport dateSource
  • Averon Group acquired Fenco Supply | Knoxville, TNborderline fitSource
  • APR Supply acquired McArdle & Walsh Inc. | Baltimore, MDborderline fit, report dateSource
  • Turner Supply acquired Progressive Supply | Woodstock, GASource
  • SunSource acquired Vytl Controls Group | Houston, TXSource
  • White Cap acquired Colony Hardware | CTborderline fitSource
  • Applied Industrial Technologies acquired Thompson Industrial Supply Inc. | CASource
  • Ficodis Group acquired Tytan Glove and Safety | ONSource
  • Core & Main acquired Pioneer Supply | Moore, OKSource
  • Highline Warren acquired Sprayway (brand, from PLZ Corp.) | United Statesborderline fitSource
  • FloWorks International acquired Cranford Equipment Co. | Kenner, LAreport dateSource
  • Baldwin Supply Company acquired Construction & Aggregate Products Inc. | Des Moines, IAreport dateSource
  • GradeEight Supply acquired Bolt & Screw Supply | Springdale, ARreport dateSource
  • Galco Industrial Electronics acquired Ad-Tech CCI | Harrisburg, PASource
  • NEFCO acquired STS Industrial | LAreport dateSource
  • LindFast Solutions Group acquired AZ Wire & Cable | ILSource
  • Solve Industrial Motion Group acquired D&D Global | IAborderline fitSource
  • Walter Surface Technologies acquired Hermes Schleifmittel North American operations | Virginia Beach, VAborderline fitSource
  • Hartmann Building Specialties acquired Contractor Supplies and Services | Baton Rouge, LAborderline fit, report dateSource
  • J.M. Grimstad acquired GT Hydraulic Specialists | WIreport dateSource
  • DSG (Minnesota plumbing and electrical supply) acquired Quality Pumps | Madison, WIborderline fitSource
  • Motion acquired Sunset Industrial Parts | Cerritos, CASource

What drives consolidation in industrial distribution and MRO

Industrial distribution remains fragmented by product line and geography, and many independent distributors are family-owned businesses facing succession decisions.

Large distributors often cite the addition of engineering, repair and value-added services as a reason for acquisitions, because those services tend to carry higher margins than product resale.

Supplier line cards and territorial rights are not always transferable by contract alone, which can make buying the incumbent distributor the practical way to add a line in a region.

These observations reflect themes stated in the announcements we reviewed and our general view of the market; they are not findings measured from the dataset.

Download all deals (CSV)

All eight niches in one file, with source URLs. Filter the niche column for this ranking.

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Frequently asked questions

Who acquired the most industrial distribution and MRO companies in 2026?

Between November 1, 2025 and October 25, 2026, the most active acquirers by number of announced deals were DXP Enterprises (7), Singer Industrial (3), Meritus Gas Partners (3). Counts include only publicly announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian companies.

How many industrial distribution and MRO acquisitions were announced in the past year?

We recorded 91 announced acquisitions by 67 acquirers. Because many small transactions are never announced, the true number is higher.

Are most Industrial distribution buyers private equity-backed?

In our data, 33% of the deals were made by acquirers owned by private equity firms. The rest were made by public companies and privately held strategic buyers.

What does this mean for an owner considering a sale?

An active market means more potential buyers, but serial acquirers usually have set valuation frameworks and integration plans. Owners tend to achieve better terms when several qualified buyers compete, including strategic buyers that appear less often in announcements. The ranking shows who is buying; it does not show who would pay the most for a particular company.

What is counted as a deal in this niche?

Distributors of industrial and MRO supplies: fluid power, bearings and power transmission, automation and motion control, fasteners, cutting tools, safety products, pipe, valves and fittings, electrical, packaging and janitorial supplies, and welding gases. HVAC and plumbing supply distribution is excluded. Records that sit at the edge of that definition are marked as borderline in the CSV.

Methodology and sources

Laurent Capital Research compiled this dataset from public sources in October 2026 (sources retrieved October 26, 2026). It covers acquisitions announced from Nov 1, 2025 to Oct 25, 2026 in which the acquired company was headquartered in the United States or Canada. For each of eight niches we built a list of acquirers known to be active, read the news and press-release pages of each one we could reach, then reviewed wire services (PR Newswire, Business Wire, GlobeNewswire and others), trade publications and public deal trackers for deals by acquirers not on the initial list. A second collection pass, added to the dataset on October 27, 2026, contributed 37 further deals, mostly from the PrivSource deal tracker and trade publications; each was checked against the page it cites, and a private equity sponsor is shown only where that page names it.

Each press release or article was read and its facts recorded in a fixed schema: announcement date, acquirer, the acquirer’s private equity owner at the time (if any), target, target location, a short description of the target’s business, and the source URL. The press release is the preferred source; where none could be found or retrieved, the source is a trade publication or a public deal tracker (for example PrivSource, Levin Associates, Becker’s Hospital Review or the monthly sector reports of Janes Capital Partners). Where only a closing date or the date of a report was available, that date is used and the deal is flagged as such on the page and in the CSV.

Records were deduplicated on acquirer and target, and each deal is counted in one niche only. On review we removed 69 of 644 collected records: deals known only from a search-result snippet or a page that could not be read, deals with an unknown or out-of-window date, targets outside the United States and Canada or with an unconfirmed headquarters, duplicates, initial platform investments by private equity firms, deals outside a niche’s definition, and transactions with a disclosed value above $1 billion. Every remaining source link was requested on October 26, 2026 and none returned “not found” (some sites block automated requests); for the pages whose text could be read automatically, we confirmed that the page names the acquirer and the target.

Acquirers are ranked by the number of announced deals in a niche. The acquirer is the operating company that announced the acquisition (for example, a private equity-backed platform or a software group within a larger holding company), not its financial sponsor; the sponsor and, where relevant, the parent group are shown separately. Minority investments and purchases of municipal or government-owned assets are excluded.

Limitations. The counts include only deals that were publicly announced and that we could find and read. Many add-on acquisitions of small companies are never announced, some acquirers disclose deals only in aggregate, and a number of company newsrooms and trade-press archives could not be retrieved, so the totals understate actual activity, by more for some niches and acquirers than others; each niche page states its known coverage gaps. The revenue cycle management ranking in particular rests on limited data and should be read as preliminary. Niche boundaries require judgment; records marked “borderline” are included in the counts. Deal values are rarely disclosed for companies of this size and are not reported here. The data does not include any transaction advised by Laurent Capital.

  1. 1inddist.com. 81 deals sourced here
  2. 2mdm.com. 5 deals sourced here
  3. 3businesswire.com. 1 deal sourced here
  4. 4ewweb.com. 1 deal sourced here
  5. 5s204.q4cdn.com. 1 deal sourced here
  6. 6sec.gov. 1 deal sourced here
  7. 7secure.businesswire.com. 1 deal sourced here

Data last updated Oct 27, 2026.

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Citation

Laurent Capital Research, “Most Active Acquirers of Industrial Distribution and MRO Companies (2026),” 2026, https://laurent.capital/research/most-active-acquirers/industrial-distribution

Link (HTML)

<a href="https://laurent.capital/research/most-active-acquirers/industrial-distribution">Most Active Acquirers of Industrial Distribution and MRO Companies (2026)</a> (Laurent Capital)

Compiled from public sources for general information; not investment advice. Inclusion does not imply any relationship with, or endorsement by, the companies listed, and the data does not include any transaction advised by Laurent Capital. To report a missing or incorrect deal, write to info@laurent.capital with a link to the announcement.

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