Hagan: Distress Sales & a Few Strategic Acquisitions Dominate 2002

John L. Wolz

Fastener company mergers and acquisitions slowed to a crawl during 2002, Richard Hagan announced in releasing his sixth annual Hagan’s Top 10 Fastener Acquisition Deals of the Year.
Hagan, who has specialized in fastener industry mergers & acquisitions for 10 years, reflected that during 2002 it “seemed that most of the normally active fastener company acquirers ‘had their hands full’ with internal problems or were consciously ‘sitting on the sidelines’ due to poor economic conditions and the high level of uncertainty as to where the economy is headed.”
There were a higher number of distress sales – including Anixter International’s purchase of Pentacon Inc., GE Supply’s acquisition of Questron Technology and Allfast Fastening Systems’ purchase of Aerospace Rivet Manufacturers.
Despite the reduced number of acquisitions, there were a “handful of forward-thinking, strategic acquisitions completed last year,” Hagan pointed out. He includes Alcoa’s purchase of Fairchild Fasteners, Link Solutions’s purchase of Monadnock Company and SFS Holding’s purchase of Construction Fasteners.

Hagan, president of New York-based Pinnacle Capital Corporation, predicts deal activity will pick up during 2003, though not match the levels seen from 1998 through 2000.
Hagan’s Top Deals of 2002: SFS Holding A.G. purchased Construction Fasteners Inc.; Freestone Partners LLC purchased Dan-Loc Bolt & Gasket Inc. from The Flexitallic Group Inc.; Barnes Group Inc. purchased Seeger-Orbis GmbH & Co. OHG from TransTechnology Allfast Fastening Systems Inc. purchased Aerospace Rivet Manufacturers Corp. from TransTechnology Corp.; The Hillman Companies Inc. purchased the Lowe’s specialty fastener business from R&B Inc.; GE Supply Logistics LLC, a newly created, wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Co., purchased Questron Technology Inc.; Link Solutions for Industry S.A. purchased The Monadnock Co.; Anixter International Inc. purchased Pentacon Inc.; The Hillman Companies Inc. purchased the retail fastener and related hardware operations (commonly referred to as the “DIY Business”) of Fastenal Inc. ; Alcoa Inc. purchased Fairchild Fasteners from The Fairchild Corp. E-mail: rphagan@Comcast.net �2003 FastenerNews.com