Business support services company DCC has completed a deal to buy US-based Almo Corporation for £462m.
DCC said the deal is its largest acquisition to date and expands DCC Technology's growing North American business.
Almo was bought in a bilateral transaction from the Chaiken family, who have owned and managed Almo since its foundation 75 years ago.
Almo is a specialist sales, marketing and value-added distribution business in the US. It sells to integrators, resellers, dealers, retailers and e-tailers across the US. It is also a leading national distributor of consumer appliances, consumer electronics and lifestyle products.
The business is headquartered in Philadelphia and employs about 660 people.
In its latest financial year ended April 30, Almo recorded revenues of $1.3 billion and had underlying EBITA of $75m. Its gross assets at 30 April 2021 were $409m.
DCC said the deal for Almo is a major step in the continuing expansion of both DCC and DCC Technology in North America.
DCC Technology entered the North American market in 2018 and since then has expanded significantly, through a combination of organic growth and acquisition activity.
The company said it has now committed about £550m to acquisitions in the financial year ending 31 March 2022.
It also said that today's deal will be significantly earnings per share accretive, with adjusted EPS accretion of about 10% in first full year of ownership.
Donal Murphy, chief executive of DCC plc, said the synergistic acquisition of Almo more than doubles the size of DCC's North American technology business.
"It will create the leading, specialist Pro AV player in the US, as well as providing the group with real scale across the ecommerce and consumer channels, through Almo's significant presence in the growing lifestyle, consumer appliance and electronics markets," Donal Murphy said.
He said the acquisition of Almo and other recent acquisitions in DCC Technology and DCC Healthcare are consistent with the company's ambition to really scale its operations in these higher growth sectors.
"We are very pleased with the group's progress since we first entered the North American market in 2018, where we have built substantial and successful businesses across the healthcare, technology and energy sectors. We have great opportunity for future expansion, given the platforms we've created, the attractive growth dynamics and the scope for consolidation," the CEO added.
